The Games we Play
by Mikael Jehocutt
Summary: Katniss and Gale have a third member of their hunting party that lives out in the woods outside District 12. He hunts, trades at the Hob and seems to get just about anything you might need. When Katniss takes her sister's place he volunteers to take Peeta's place and decides he must help Katniss win even if it costs him his life.
1. Chapter 1

This story was written as a side project mainly because since I read Hunger Games I can't stop thinking about it. Maybe if I write it out I can get started on the second part of my own work. If you like Peeta, don't bother reading it.

Disclaimer: The Hunger Games is the sole intellectual and commercial property of Suzanna Collins and Scholastic Publishing. The use of which is done solely for enjoyment and no other purpose. The extra characters and changes in the story line are the sole intellectual property of Michael J. Flanders (me).

This story is a cross over between The Hunger Games and my short story Free fall.

Katniss and Gale have a third member of their hunting party that lives out in the woods outside District 12. He hunts, trades at the Hob and seems to get just about anything you might need. He's been their friend and business partner for the last year has been their friend. When Katniss takes her sister's place he volunteers to take Peeta's place and decides he must help Katniss win even if it costs him his life.

Story contains sexual situations, harsh language and somewhat explicit violence

Reaping Minus Two Days

A young looking man, slowly, quietly, walked through the thick underbrush of the wooden area that was more or less his home. His well worn brown leather boots avoided stepping on anything that could give away his position. He senses aware of everything around him. The slightest movements, sounds or even smells acted alike alarms to him. He was trained for this sort of thing but for far different reasons than he was using them now. He paused for a second and looked up at the mid summer sun through the tree canopy, closed his eyes and smiled. He wiped the sweat from his brow not minding the intense summer's heat. He was happy here for many reasons chief of which was his friends. The fact of the matter was his two hunting partners had taught him to find joy in what many would consider simple things. They taught him how to be something he never remembered being; a kid. He let the summer sun warm his face and breathed the sweet smelling air. Everything here seemed better, purer than he ever remembered before. The air fresher, the water cleaner, the plants and game he cooked tasted incredible. Even Greasy Sae's concoctions she brews up in the Hob, the local black market, tasted good most of the time. A small brushing sound took him out of his trance. He looked towards the sound and saw the tail feathers of a wild turkey moving behind a group of pine trees. He crouched down behind a shrub, brought up the bow he barrowed and notched an arrow. He lost sight of his target but continued watching, his instincts told him there was more than one target out there even though he couldn't see it. Instincts he'd learned to trust implicitly without completely understanding why. He glanced over to the 18 year old young man about ten meters to his left. Gale Hawthorn was also crouched; his bow ready but apparently couldn't see the turkeys from his position. He lowered his bow, pointed at his eyes with two fingers, held three fingers up and then pointed at the trees. Even without seeing them he was certain there were at least three of them walking around. Those turkeys could be dinner for him and his friends family or he could sell them to associates at the Hob for money. Money he would share with his friends or simply use to get things they needed. They were his only friends and he'd do anything for them; even die if necessary. Gale nodded, looked over at the other in their little trio, a skinny 16 year old girl and simply nodded in the direction of their prey. Katniss Everdeen nodded back and moved silently a little farther ahead, her father's bow ready. The man smiled. He knew Gale and Katniss had been hunting together for more than four years. In that time they understood each other so well that they could communicate the same thing he did with his hand in a simple nod. He wondered if he'd been that close to anyone that they would understand what he was thinking with just a glance. Both his and Gale's eyes were on Katniss, waiting for her to get a clear shot. Dropping her target would flush the others into the clear and give the two boys clear shots as well. Katniss stopped moving forward and in one fluid motion stood up and shot. He didn't see where her arrow hit but then the other two started leaping away from the trees. Gale got his shot off skewering his in the center of its body. He also took his shot and buried his arrow in a nearby tree missing his intended target by inches. Katniss reloaded and shot again taking down the last bird. He closed his eyes and moaned softly knowing he'd just given his friends another reason to tease him about his lack of archery skills. He didn't mind looking like a fool in front of the others for a couple of reasons. First a bow was a new weapon for him and second it would make Katniss laugh. The girl laughed so rarely he made it a point to make her laugh at least once every time he saw her. He watched Gale and Katniss, or Kat, as he liked to call her, both because it was easier to say than Katniss and just to be somewhat irritating, recover their prizes while he had to use a rusty, thin bladed knife to pry the arrow out of the tree.

Gale tucked his kill into his belt and yelled, "Saint John, how are you going to get that to the Hob?" The two long time hunting partners were looking at him smiling.

And it begins, Saint John thought. He replied, "I got an axe somewhere. Maybe I can convince Sae its dog wood and she can throw it in the soup."

Gale chuckled softly and said, "Might improve the taste."

Katniss looked down trying to hide her smile.

Saint John smiled. He liked seeing Katniss smile. He looked at the tree for a second like he was studying it, rubbed his chin and said, "Then again, if it was dog wood I'd have to tie a leash around it to keep it from chasing Kat up a different tree."

She pulled her arrows out of the turkeys and held them up admiring the kills. He could tell she was trying to ignore him but could see the ends of her lips curl up slightly.

Saint John smiled, looked over at Gale and decided to get some help. He said to Gale, "Must be proud of her work. She looks like the cat that swallowed the canary."

She started smiling just a little wider but Gale finished what Saint John started by saying, "I think you have a little milk on your whiskers Catnip."

That did it. Katniss started laughing and replied, "I don't have whiskers! My name is Katniss, not Cat, Kitten or Catnip, Katnisssssssss," and made the end of her name sound like a cat hissing at them.

Saint John meowed at her. He knew she wasn't mad, they teased her all the time and usually she gave as good as she got. Although there were days when she wasn't in the mood to be teased. On those days Saint John would ask her questions about the woods, various plants or setting snares. It normally got her mind off whatever was bothering her and then he and Gale could start a line of stupid jokes or exaggerated stories that sooner or later would get her nearly on the ground laughing.

She sat down on a downed tree and started cleaning her kill. Saint John sat down next to her, picked up the other turkey and cleaned it for her. She scowled at him for a second but didn't say anything. The first time he helped her clean a kill she grabbed it back telling him it was hers. He smiled and told her all he was trying to do was help. It took a while but eventually she let him do things for her. He finished with his bird, leaned back and said, "Well I guess if I plan on eating today I'd better go fishing." He then set the bow and quiver of arrows he barrowed by the game and said, "Here, it's pretty obvious if I have to rely on my aim to eat I'd starve."

Katniss looked at him with just a hint of concern in her eyes and replied, "You're not that bad, only missed by an inch or two."

"A close miss is still a miss."

Gale looked over from the other side of Katniss and said, "You just need more practice."

Saint John looked down at his feet smiling and said, "That's a switch; you two trying to cheer me up."

There were times when he could hear both of them from a half a kilometer away talking about how unfair their government, namely the Capital, was towards the districts. Since reaping day was only a couple of days away Saint John thought they'd be even more angry about their situation. He knew on that day every child in all the districts would have to stand corralled like cattle and wait for their names to be called. The two chosen, one boy and one girl, would then be sent to the capital, made a ridiculous spectacle and then put in an area and made to fight to the death until only one remains. Both Gale and Katniss were eligible to be chosen to represent district 12; the one where Saint John had decided to make his home. For some reason they seemed oddly subdued about the whole thing. He wondered if it was because they were trying not to think about it or they didn't want to talk in front of him. Saint John told them he was 17 so he should be in the reaping. But since the Capital didn't know he was here his name would never make it into the reaping bowl. He looked over and wondered if may be they were jealous that it seemed he found a way to avoid what they must be fearing. Saint John wanted to help them but wasn't sure how to without making things worse or getting everyone killed.

Gale looked over scowling and asked, "What are you trying to say? That we're not happy and overjoyed about being forced to forage and hunt for enough food to feed our families? That in a couple of days we get to wait and see if one of us gets to die for the Capital's entertainment? That even if we do make to adulthood the best we can hope for is to work in the same mine that killed our fathers? Why wouldn't we be happy about that?"

Saint John cringed inside for getting his best friend in the world angry about life in district 12 again. It wasn't that hard to do; Gale went off on that topic quite easily. Externally he didn't let any reaction show. Instead he leaned back farther and said, "Not you, you're always happy." He then bumped his shoulder against Katniss's and said, "Now sour puss here…..," and that was all he got to say. He felt her leg move under his and didn't try to stop her from pushing him backwards off the log. His back slammed into hard packed dirt. He set out a small gasp and said, "Ow." He wasn't hurt but it seemed like the right thing to say.

Gale looked at him chuckling again. Katniss picked up her turkeys and the other bow, stood up and started to walk away.

He caught a glimpse of a small smile on her face and smiled himself. He then remembered something, said, "Kat wait," and got up off the ground.

She stopped in her tracks rigid and obviously annoyed.

He walked over to her and said, "Sorry, Katnissssssss," exactly the same way she did. It got another small smile out of her. He reached into his green, burlap game bag he carried across his body and under his right arm and handed her a large white cloth tied at the top to keep its contents from falling out.

Katniss undid the knot, saw the collection of medicinal herbs and roots and inhaled sharply. She looked up at him questioningly.

Saint John said, "I found them out in the field. I was going to sell them but thought your mom might want them."

Katniss looked back down and replied, "Yeah, I've been looking for some of this but couldn't find any." She looked up at him and said, "You'll have to show me where."

Saint John gave her a sad look and said, "Then you wouldn't have any use for me."

She closed her eyes, another small smile showing on her face.

Saint John looked even sadder and said in a small almost childlike voice, "Then you would just stop letting me hang around you and leave me all alone in the big scary woods…"

That got him a slap in the arm as well as a big smile and laugh. He then pulled out a long silver tube and handed it to her.

Her eyes became very big and she asked, "Where did you get that from?"

Saint John shrugged and said, "I found it."

Katniss scowled at him. She repeated, "You found it."

"Yeah, I'm good at finding things."

She examined the tube for a few seconds, handed it back to him and said, "It's too expensive."

He gave it back to her and said, "It didn't cost me anything."

Gale yelled from the log he was still sitting on, "What is it?"

Katniss replied, "It's medicine from the Capital." She looked back at Saint John and said, "You could buy a house with what you could get for it."

"What would I do with a house?"

"Live there, being out in the woods during the summer is one thing but it gets cold around here in the winter."

Saint John shrugged and said, "I got places to go when its cold or raining. Your mom can find better use for it than I can."

Katniss took the tube back, pulled one of the turkeys from her belt and tried to give it to him.

Saint John refused to take it and said, "You keep what you kill."

"But this is too much."

"Fine, tell you what. When I get you mad enough that you finally do shoot me in the butt, you'll have your mom pull the arrow out, ok?"

It was Gales turn to fall off the log only in laughter. Katniss just scowled at him either not finding his comment remotely funny or not wanting to owe him for such an expensive gift. Most likely both. He'd told her many times that he helps his friends because he wants to not because he expects anything in return.

She said, "Fine, that could be any day now." She looked at Gale and asked, "I'm heading to the Hob, sell one of my birds and get something for Prim; you coming?"

"Nope, I think I'm going to help Saint John catch his dinner, meet you later Catnip."

Katniss nodded and started making her way back to the fence.

Saint John watched her walk away and asked, "Why does she let you get away with calling her Catnip but gets mad when I call her Kat?"

"That's easy, she likes me."

Saint John felt a wave of sadness come over him and quickly leave. He said quietly to no one, "Yeah, maybe it's better that way," and started heading towards the creek for dinner.

Saint John stood bare foot in the cool stream water keeping himself absolutely still, spear ready waiting for the right fish to swim by. The water only came up about half way to his knees but the current was swift enough to make it difficult to stand still. Gale stood down current from him, a second spear in his hand also waiting. He looked over at Gale wondering why he was here. Saint John might not be the best hunter in the world but he was very close to being the best fisher easily able to bring out a couple dozen or so on a good day. He had woven nets, poles attached to tripwires that could set the hooks themselves but what he really liked to do was take them with a spear. The funny thing was he didn't really like eating fish. He let a couple small ones swim by until a striped fish the size of his foot slowly swam past his leg. He waited for the fish to get a little farther out from him, adjusted his aim to compensate for the distortion water causes light and let his spear fly. He pulled it out with a ten inch sized rain bow trout attached to the five prong barbs at the end of his spear. He nodded at his prey satisfied with the size, pulled it off the barbs and tossed it on the shore next to three others.

He was inspecting the tip of his spear when Gale asked, "What do you think of Katniss?"

He looked up for a second and thought that's a loaded question. Katniss Everdeen was in his opinion, attractive in a tomboyish sort of way. Her long braided hair constantly popping out of the green cap she tried to keep it in. Gray eyes, skin a couple of shades darker than his paleness. He looked down at his sun tanned arms and thought maybe he wasn't so pale anymore. She was very thin and kind of short. In fact between that and the clothes she wears hunting he at first thought she was a young boy, like Gale's younger brother or something. A superb hunter, gatherer and survivor not to mention without a doubt the best shot he'd ever seen with a bow. She was driven and committed to the welfare of her family and what few close friends she had. She was very good at thinking on her feet. Katniss Everdeen although quite young seemed like a women he could really like even maybe love. Confusing memories of others that he believed he loved came to mind. He closed his eyes for a second and willed them back.

He noticed he'd have to replace the tips on his spear and walked back to the shore. He looked over at Gale and considered the source of the question before he answered leaving out the personal stuff highlighting her hunting abilities.

Gale slammed his spear into the creek bed and came up empty. He shook his head and said, "That's not quite what I meant."

Of course it isn't, Saint John thought. "Gale, you didn't come out here to fish did you?"

Gale looked over at him and ran his left hand through his long dark hair. His grey eyes, almost identical to Katniss's told Saint John he guessed right. Saint John waved him over and asked, "Are you hungry?"

Saint John cleaned, scaled and filleted the fish while Gale collected some wood and got a fire ready to start. Saint John tossed him a shiny metal lighter to start the fire with. Gale looked at the lighter and asked, "Where do you get stuff like this?"

Saint John shrugged and replied, "Got it in a trade years ago, the hardest part is keeping it in fuel and flints."

The fish were cooked and mostly eaten and Gale still hadn't said anything. Finally Saint John asked, "So, I'm guessing there was a reason you asked me about Kat? Want to tell me or should we just sit here and pretend you're not into her?"

Gale looked at him like he was speaking a different language, which in a sense he was. Saint John shook his head a little annoyed at himself for using slang that he knew wouldn't translate well here. Slang he wasn't sure where he even learned. He smiled and asked, "Into her, like her, love her, want to sleep with her. That's what you're thinking, right?"

Gale looked down at his feet and nodded slightly apparently embarrassed that it was so obvious to his friend. Saint John smiled at his friend's reaction. You would have to be blind to not notice something going on or at least would be going on between them in a different world. He felt the need for a smoke; the idea of long difficult conversations usually brought that on. Which didn't make any sense because he can't remember ever smoking. He sighed and started telling Gale a little about what he knew of women. How both boys and girls play the same game only girls are usually a little better at it. Boys act like jerks a lot of the time to get a girls attention; showing off and stuff like that. Gale nodded, he had to have noticed that by now. Girls are usually more subtle than that and can do anything from harassing to completely ignoring a guy they are interested in. When he finished Saint John paused for a second studying his friend to see if he was catching on. Gale looked like he understood so Saint John said, "Now there are exceptions to every rule especially when you're dealing with people and Kat is kind of one of those exceptions."

Gale looked at him intently, very interested in what his friend was about to say.

"Katniss is a very private person, that's just who she is so she never had many close friends. When her father died she took it upon herself to feed her family. So instead of learning how to flirt and play the "I want him to notice me game" she had to learn how to hunt, gather, fish, trap and make deals for stuff they needed. Because of that she doesn't completely understand how to do play that game or it could just be she's not even interested in the things most girls are. She may not even be interested in boys. But I think her biggest problem is she's afraid."

Gale snorted and replied, "You sure we're talking about the same Katniss? She's not afraid of anything."

"Yes she is. She's afraid of living."

Gale frowned; his expression conveyed not only his disagreement but the need for further explanation.

"Kat's afraid of losing what she has even to the point of not dreaming of more. Look, you're her only real friend, the only one she tells all her secrets and feelings to. Now that sometimes works in a guy's favor because the girl already knows she can trust you. She already has that emotional connection with you. She can feel safe around you. But it can also work against you because if the romance thing doesn't work out they not only lose a boyfriend but they're afraid they might lose that confidant as well."

Gale's eyes narrowed in suspension. He asked, "You've thought a lot about her, haven't you?"

Saint John leaned his head to one side; like he does when someone says something about himself he wasn't aware of. He thought, maybe I have thought about her more than I realize.

"Saint John, I'm not her only friend. She sees you as someone she can trust too."

Saint John frowned for a second, laughed joylessly and replied, "Dude, the girl barely tolerates my being around you two."

Gale smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "She talks about you a lot, just when you're not around. It's actually a little annoying."

"What does she say?"

"That you seem to be there with whatever she really needs like medicine for Prim or food or stuff to trade and you never want anything in return. That she thinks you'd be there for us if we needed you. She worries about you though. That you have no place to live except out in the woods. You have no family to take care of you if you're sick or hurt. That someday the Capital's going to find out you're here or you're bringing things in from other districts. Crey'll have to do something about you then." Cray was the leader of the local law enforcement known as Peace Keepers. So far he hadn't asked a lot of questions about Saint John mostly because Cray and the other Peace Keepers liked the stuff he could get for them.

"They can kill both of you for poaching out here as well."

Gale laughed and said, "They're our best customers."

"Mine too. Don't worry about me; I've been taking care of myself for a long time."

"I don't worry about you, she does."

"What else does she say about me?"

Gale thought for a second and replied, "That you like annoying her. That you never take anything seriously, you act like a fool sometimes just to get a reaction out of her. She complains but I can tell she likes it most of the time, she seems almost happier after hanging around you."

"Being serious is highly over rated. You need to have fun when you can or what the hell's the point."

"So you're never serious? Nothing matters to you?"

"I'm serious when I have to be but for the most part I avoid it and yes some things matter to me like my friends; namely Kat and you. I think you two might be the only friends I've ever had. Besides I like making her smile. Kat has one of those smiles that a man would crawl through ten miles of solid rock just to see."

The glare Gale gave him made Saint John laugh. Gale suddenly looked hurt. His head dropped down and he started staring at his boots. Saint John shook his head and said, "Dude, trust me I'm not good for her. Another girlfriend would complicate things."

Gale looked up smirking and asked, "How many girlfriends do you have?"

"None right now and that's just the way I like it, no one to take care of except me."

"How many have you had?"

"A few and trust me they were all train wrecks."

Gales questioning look told him he did it again. "They ended badly."

They both sat there staring at the dying fire not saying anything. Saint John wasn't sure if he should tell his friend what he was thinking or not. He wasn't lying. He had memories of being in love with two women. He just wasn't sure how much of those memories were real and how much were illusions. God he really wanted that smoke right now. Saint John clapped his hands to break the tension and asked, "So you're into Katniss and wondering how I think you should handle it?"

"Well, I really just wanted to know if you were, well interested in her but since you seem to know so much what would you do?"

Saint John laughed and said, "Did I mention the train wreck part?"

"Well, you could just tell me how you met them and leave that part out."

"Ok, meeting girls without wrecking the train. Hmm, well the way I see it you have three choices; one you could let her make the first move. It's the safest for your ego but in this case it's also the most likely to flat out fail. You could find another girl and try to make her jealous, that sometimes works but it also back fires a lot and then you have two women hating you for life. Plus in a small place like this it will get out and you might have trouble getting dates after that. I think you're best option is to just tell her how you feel and let her decide."

Saint John tried not to laugh at the look of disappointment on his friend's face.

"Yeah I know that's easy for me to say but there really isn't a secret way of doing it. Well, not one that can you use on a woman you're thinking about spending your life with."

"Ok, and how do I do that without looking…stupid?"

"You can't, no matter how you say it you're going to be vulnerable. That's what happens when you open yourself up to another like that. Now I wouldn't recommend saying, 'Oh, Katniss, I love you so much I want to drink your used bathwater…'"

Gale was laughing so hard Saint John lost his train of thought and started laughing. When Gale could breathe again he asked, "That's disgusting, where do you come up with stuff like that?"

"I'm just your average sick puppy." And again with the slang no one can understand. Saint John said, "Never mind, look you could try testing the waters a little. Ask her if she thought about having a boyfriend or maybe what she thinks about getting married or maybe, I don't know…." Saint John snapped his fingers and said, "Ask her if she would run away with you. That way if she says yes you know she at least considered the idea of being with you to some degree. If she says no, well, then we'll just have to convince her she's wrong."

"We'd convince her?"

"Hell yeah, Kat's too cool a person to spend her life alone. If the two of us can make her laugh we can show her you're the best thing that could ever happen to her."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would. I've seen the way the two of you act around each other. You two belong together. Just remember, I help you get in the door you have to do the rest yourself."

Gale looked up at the setting sun, stood up and said, "It's getting late and I still have to get this bird to Cray's. See you tomorrow and thanks."

Saint John stood up and replied, "I'm not going to be around tomorrow, got something else to do. We'll get to work on Project fixing you and Kat up after the Reaping."

Gale looked at him like he wanted to say something else but instead he just nodded and walked away.

Saint John sat by the dying fire and cursed under his breath. The conversation with Gale bothered him for several reasons. Primarily he wasn't sure where his advice to his friend had come from. He stood up, kicked out the fire, collected his belongings and headed to his home. By the time he arrived at his camp at the tree line of a large grass field it had become quite dark. He went into his lean-to shelter, lit a candle and sat on his hammock. A soft voice asked him how is day went. He told the voice about the conversation with Gale and said, "I wish I knew how I know what I know." He didn't need the voice to explain his condition to him. His form of amnesia was not caused by any natural disease or injury. Even though his stomach was full of fish he was still hungry. He wanted a thick cheeseburger, well done French fries and ice cream. But more importantly he hungered for companionship. Talking to Gale had made him in a word horny and hungry to blow off some steam. He stood up and said, "Let's get out of here. I want to party, get drunk and get laid."

The soft almost female voice replied, "Sounds like a good idea. I have the perfect place in mind. We can both see some old friends."

He smiled, grabbed a small, black back pack from under and behind his hammock, walked to the center of the field and disappeared from site.

It seemed like he was above the center of district 12. The square full of all the districts children, separated by ages. He could see the mayor, the districts only living victor of the game and the escort from the Capital. He heard the escort call a name. Saint John snapped awake immediately and said, "Gale." He looked around not sure where he was until he heard a soft woman's voice ask, "You alright?"

He looked down to his left and could make out the shape of a thin woman lying next to him and the queen sized soft bed. The room lights came with a word from her and he was looking at a very young and attractive, not to mention naked, woman. He looked into her soft brown eyes and smiled. He touched her blonde hair and said, "No, just a bad dream I guess."

She propped her head on her right arm and asked, "Who's Gale?"

"A friend, he was who I was dreaming about."

She frowned. "You're sleeping with me and dreaming about a guy? That might explain a few things."

He smirked at her, rolled on top of the blonde girl pinning her arms over her head. She made a weak attempt at fighting him off but knew it was just a game. A game she was more than willing to play. Besides she was trained by the same group that trained him. If she really wanted to she could fight him off. She could kill him with her bare hands. He looked down into her eyes and said, "It's not like that. I dreamed he was in trouble."

The playfulness changed to concern. She asked him to explain his dream to her. He frowned not really wanting to involve her in his or his friend's problems. However, he knew she wouldn't just let it go. So he rolled off her, let her snuggle up to his left side and told her about his dream. When he finished she said, "A little vivid for just a dream."

He looked over at her and asked, "Don't tell me you think it's some kind of portent or vision of the future. You don't believe in that shit do you?"

"With everything I've seen in my life I don't take anything for granted anymore."

He stroked her hair. "If my mind wasn't so jumbled maybe I could tell if it was just a dream or something else."

She took his left hand, kissed his fingers and said, "I wish you could remember too. It wasn't all bad, some of it was pretty nice."

He rolled over on his left side and stared at her for several minutes. She was very pretty, beautiful even but he couldn't stop thinking about his friends.

She could tell he was bothered by his friends being in danger. She asked, "Do you want some help?"

She smiled and replied, "No, its my problem not yours. Besides I'm not sure what you could do that wouldn't make things worse."

She rolled him on his back, got on top and replied, "You sure? I could get the band back together. Well what's left of the band at any rate."

He laughed. Well, a band was a good way of putting it. "Maybe we could hire Ozzy to be the opening act?"

She kissed him. "No, Rob Zombie."

He laughed. "You're right, he'd be a better match."

She began kissing his neck and he wasn't thinking about anything but her anymore. It wasn't love or romance, it was just two people who for a few minutes in time didn't want to be alone anymore. They both knew this would end the moment either one of them found someone special to them. After they finished she asked, "So, what does this Gale look like?"

He smiled and asked, "So you make love to me and think about another guy?" He rolled away from her and said in the best hurt voice he had, "Guess I didn't make much of an impression on you."

She touched his shoulder and said, "Well, you're no Snake but…"

He rolled back to face her and asked in mock horror, "You didn't sleep with him did you?"

She smiled at him and said, "So what if I did? You don't own me."

He didn't really care who she slept with as long as he didn't catch anything from her. He put a sad look on his face and said, "That's true."

She laughed. "No, I didn't fuck Snake; I have standards."

They both laughed. Snake was supposedly his oldest friend but he barely remembered him. Like most of his past the memories of both Snake and the woman known as Hacker to most of her former associates were just a almost unorganized mess of images in his head.

She asked again what Gale was like. He described him as tall, strong with grey eyes and dark hair. He told her he was a good hunter and trapper. When he finished she said, "So, tall, dark and handsome. I should go back with you. You can introduce us."

"He's interested in someone else."

"Pity." She ran her hand though his chest hair for several minutes not saying anything. She rested her head on his chest and asked how long he had before his friend's name would be drawn.

He shook his head and said, "Jordan, it was a dream; nothing else."

"If it was just a dream why are you still thinking about it?"

"Because I'm an idiot."

She scowled at him, said, "No you're an idiot for insisting on dealing with this yourself," and got out of the bed.

"Jordan?"

She picked his pants up off the floor, tossed them on the bed and said, "I'm taking a shower. Don't be here when I get back."

"Jordan?"

She turned around and said angrily, "Your call Boss. Go get yourself killed. Perhaps if you survive whatever you plan on doing you'll understand someday that as good as we are alone we are far better as a team."

He watched her small, muscular, naked ass walk away and yelled, "Jordan! Hacker!" When the door closed he looked at the ceiling and said, "Fuck." He got dressed and left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Reap Me

Saint John walked through the forest underbrush not particularly concerned with the amount of noise he made. He wasn't stalking or hunting, in fact he wanted his intended target to hear him. It had been a few days since he slept so he was a little tired but if he didn't finish this now he'd never have a chance again. He figured in a few hours he'd be able to get a good night's sleep once his plan was in motion. He stopped and waited by a path that lead to where his friends usually met; a little level spot with a incredible view of the valley below. He knew of the place but never met them here. It was Gale's and Katniss' place and he didn't want to intrude on their private place.

Gale moved down the path and stopped suddenly when he saw him. He said with a surprised look, "Oh, hey Saint John."

"Morning Gale, Happy Hunger Games," and handed him a small package wrapped in a clean white cloth.

Gale asked as he unwrapped the cloth, "Thanks, what's this?"

"There called brownies, I used to love them." Saint John smiled when a pleasant memory came into his mind. He continued, "They remind me of a simpler time. At least I think they do." He looked at Gale and said, "Look, I'm going to be gone for a while and I might not be coming back. I just wanted you and Kat to know how much you mean to me."

"What the hell do you mean you might not come back? Where are you going?"

"You'll understand in a few hours." Saint John held out his right hand and said, "You're one of the best friends I've ever had. You and Kat reminded me how good life can be. I'll never forget that."

Gale looked both confused and a little sad. He took Saint John's hand and shook it hard. He held on and said, "If you need help, all you have to do is ask."

"Thanks, but this is something I have to do alone. In a couple of hours you'll understand."

Gale released his hand, shook his head and said, "You call living in the woods hiding from Peace Keepers a good life. I wonder how bad you're life was before we met."

Saint John smiled and replied, "Me too."

Gale gave him a look that made him decide he couldn't just leave it at this. He sighed and said, "I don't remember anything before five years ago. Most of the last five years were lonely until I met you two. It's best you don't know anymore right now. Perhaps in the future things will be different and it'll be safe for me to explain as much as I can."

"What future?"

"Everything chances Gale, you don't know what the future will bring."

Saint John started to walk away, turned and said, "Don't wait too long to tell her how you feel. Thank Kat and tell her good bye for me."

Gale yelled back, "Wait, she should be here in a few minutes, tell her yourself."

Saint John smiled and said, "This is your place and your day, I don't want to intrude."

Gale laughed and said, "You call us the best friends you have and you don't want to hang out with us."

Saint John turned back towards the trail, said, "A friend knows when to leave," and walked away.

At 2PM he was standing with the other seventeen year olds in the District 12 square waiting for the Reaping to begin. Saint John ignored the strange looks he was getting from everyone and refused to look at Gale or Katniss who had to be wondering why he was here. Even Cray and his Peace Keepers raised their eyebrows when he went to register. It took him the better part of a day to make the Capital's data base think he was both seventeen and from District 12. It was all part of his plan. While the Mayor and the Capital escort, some old woman whose hair and dress reminded him of a cross between the French Revolution and Punk rock, said their little speeches he went over his plan. It should be simple, Gale gets picked and according to the rules he can volunteer to take his place. As far as plans go this had the least chance of repercussions against those he cared about if it went completely south. In fact he thought the hardest part of the plan was not ending their little game in less than a day. Then he wins, comes back all nice, rich and maybe with enough influence to come up with a more permanent solution to his friends problems.

The escort said, "Ladies first," and reached into the girls bowl.

Saint John barely listened since he didn't really want to know which innocent young girl he might have to kill until he thought he heard the name "Everdeen."

That got his attention. He looked over and watched a small blonde girl timidly walk from her place in the crowd and move towards the stage. The girl didn't look a lot like Katniss but he wondered what were the chances of two unrelated Everdeens living in a town of about 8000 people. He got his answer when Katniss came running forward, pushed the girl behind her and yelled, "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

"Motherfu…" came out of his mouth before he clipped it off. He saw all the looks the other seventeen year olds were giving him and ignored them. That's what I get for trusting a dream, he thought. Then realized the dream wasn't completely wrong. One of his friends was reaped just the wrong one.

A voice in his head asked, "Ok, now what brainiac?"

"Shut up and let me think."

He watched the only other friend he had in the world walk to the stage, give her name and some banter from the aging punker about not wanting her sister to get all the glory. Glory, pride, honor, words that get more people killed than any others. He knew why she volunteered, to protect her sister. Then the only surviving winner of the Hunger Games from District 12 yelled at a camera and fell off the stage in a drunken stupor. He laughed even though the situation was spiraling out of control.

The voice said, "And that's the guy that's supposed to help you survive this. So are you still intent on this ill-conceived bout of idiocy?"

Saint John looked down at his feet and replied, "Like going to war against the Capital is any better."

"It has the advantage of being successful without a great deal of risk to you. No Capital, no games, no oppression, everyone's happy."

"And chances are I'd be the only one left alive when it was over. No, I'm changing the plan a little. Instead of winning I help Kat win."

"You do realize for her to win you'd have to die, right?"

"Not necessarily, I just have to seem like I'm dead. Let's try this…," and he described his idea. When he finished he asked, "You clear?"

The voice said without the normal attitude, "Copy that, good luck."

Saint John noticed a tall young man staring at him; must have thought he was talking to himself. Saint John stared back at him and yelled, "What!" The kid looked away quickly. Saint John continued to stare at him for a few seconds until the woman on stage started pulling out the boy's name.

"Peeta Mellark."

He watched a tall muscular young man walk out of the 16 year old pen and head towards the stage.

"Humph, he looks strong, any fighting skill?"

The voice said, "Petta Mellark, baker's son. Doubt it unless you call kneading dough fighting. Even if he did it wouldn't be close to yours."

"I know, just wondering if there was a third option."

When the woman asked if there were any volunteers, Saint John said, "Show time," quietly to himself. He raised his left hand and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "I volunteer." Again ignoring all the strange looks from everyone around him. Saint John stepped out of the pen and walked over to a still wailing Primrose Everdeen being held by his friend Gale. He gently took the young girls face in his hands and said, "Primrose look at me."

The girl looked at him, tears still streaming down her face. He looked her in the eyes and said in the softest voice he could manage, "You're sister needs you to be strong. It's going to be hard to watch this but you need to be strong for her and your mother. I promise she will come back to you." He looked over at Gale and said, "She will survive this, she will win and she will come back to both of you, I swear my life on it."

The young girl stopped crying and nodded at him. The shocked look Gale had at first was replaced by horror as he realized one if not both of his friends was going to be dead in a couple of days. Saint John hugged them both until he felt a strong hand grip his right arm. He looked over and saw a tall young red headed man in a Peace Keeper's uniform trying to get him to move towards the stage. Saint John gave him the look. The look he normally gave someone just before he causes their body unbelievable pain. The Peace Keeper looked away and let go of his arm. Saint John started walking towards the stage, pulling the silver lighter out of his pocket. He looked down at the lighter and realized the game officials would take it away from him. He turned, tossed it at Gale, said, "Here," and continued to the stage.

The woman, he finally realized her name was Effie Trinket, said excitedly, "This is an historic moment. We have two volunteers from District 12." She put her arm around Saint John, directed him to the microphone and asked, "So what prompted your bravery? Are you related to Mister Mellark?"

Saint John smirked at her but remained silent. She frowned at him and said, "Fine, don't suppose you would mind telling us your name?"

"Saint John Jamison."

She smiled and asked in a cheerful voice, "Can we get a round of applause for young Mister Jamison?"

Everyone stood there, no three fingered salute like with Katniss. In fact many of them had anger in their eyes. Possibly at the idea of this stranger volunteering to kill someone they all knew and respected. Saint John understood it, he didn't blame them, they had no idea he was doing this to protect her. He walked past the former tribute and saw both sadness and relief in his eyes. Relief he understood but wondered why the young man was sad, unless he also carried a torch for young Katniss. He watched him walk down the stairs and smiled. Saint John looked over at Katniss and thought, well that's three guys who think you're worth fighting for Kitten. Katniss refused to return his gaze but he caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes. He wanted to tell her right there that he was going to help her but decided it wouldn't be a good idea. Eventually they'd be alone and he could start preparing her to survive then. Effie told them to shake hands. Saint John held out his right hand. When Katniss took it he held it for a second, reached under her chin with his left and gently made her look at him. He smiled as warmly as he could and winked at her. He was trying to comfort her but suspected by the look on her face that she thought he was being arrogant.

The Peace Keepers led him into a room with a single door and one small couch so his family could say goodbye to him. Since he had no family and only two friends, one of them sitting in the room next to him, he doubted anyone would stop by. So Saint John sat on the floor, crossed his legs, closed his eyes and meditated. He stopped thinking about anything and let his mind just wander wherever it wanted to go. Meditation relaxed him, made it easier for him to control the flood of memories that threatened to drive him mad. He needed to stay focused on the task at hand. This was a game and he needed to play it by their rules until the killing started. Then he could throw the rule book away and do what he was trained to do. His subconscious mind knew exactly what he needed and started taking him to places that where he felt happiness and comfort. He suddenly felt the presence of another in the room. He opened his eyes and saw a somewhat overweight middle aged man standing in the doorway. He told him he was Peeta's father, and asked why Saint John took his place.

Saint John wasn't going to say anything; it wasn't anyone business why he did what he did but found himself saying, "Katniss is my friend. I couldn't let her die."

The older man's eyes narrowed in suspicion. After a few seconds he asked, "You'd sacrifice your life for hers?"

He cursed himself but it was too late to take it back. Besides maybe it would be good to tell them something. He said, "A girl others need and respect lives. A boy no one cared about dies. Some would call it a fair trade."

His look changed from suspicion to sadness. Saint John guessed he was feeling sad over what he said about no one caring about him. Funny how people suddenly care about you when they think you're going to die; when it was too late.

The man turned to leave when Saint John said, "Mister Mellark, don't tell anyone why I did this, its none of their business. If you want to thank me keep Katniss' family from starving until she gets back."

He said, "I will," and left the room.

Saint John closed his eyes and tried to go back to the happy place when the door opened again. This time he opened his eyes just in time to see a tall, strong, young man charging at him. He jumped to his feet, spun around using his left leg to sweep his attackers legs out from under him and stood up. He looked down at the man lying flat on his back, shook his head and asked, "Is that anyway to greet a friend Gale?"

Gale sat up and looked up at his friend. The shocked look almost made Saint John laugh. Gale asked, "How did you do that?"

He held his hand out and helped Gale back to his feet. Gale was almost a head taller than him so he looked up and said, "It's never a good idea to attack someone unless you know what they can do."

"I'll remember that. Now what the hell are you doing?"

"I told you, saving Kat's life."

"By sacrificing yourself? Yeah that's a real great idea."

"Do you think Kat could survive this on her own?"

"Yes I do."

Saint John scowled at him until Gale lowered his head embarrassed he was caught in a lie. He said, "Exactly."

Gale looked back at him like he was going to argue with him. Saint John raised his hands and said, "I know she would kill someone that threatened you or Prim or someone she cared about but could she kill some little twelve year old girl whose only threat was keeping her from winning?"

Gale shook his head. Gale looked at him and asked, "Could you?"

"Yes, I think I've done it before."

Gale was horrified at his friend's confession but let it go. Instead he asked, "And what about you?"

"I told you I might not be back."

Gales eyes narrowed and he said, "You knew this was going to happen, you knew she was going to volunteer." It wasn't a question.

Saint John shook his head and said, "I didn't know she was going to volunteer." It wasn't a lie, he thought it was Gale that would be chosen.

"You're lying. How did you know? Where the hell did you come from? Who are you?"

The Peace Keeper guarding the door came in and said his time was up. Saint John had never been so glad to see a cop in his life. Gale gave him a hug and said, "I'll never forget you Saint John Jamison, no one will ever forget you." Gale left the room, the door closed and Saint John returned to his meditation until it was time to go to catch his train to the Capital.

The car ride was more annoying than anything else. Katniss seemed to pretend he wasn't there and Effie kept rattling on about how great the Capital was and how lucky they both were. He turned her out after about two seconds. Cameras followed their every move as they boarded the train. This promised to be the most interesting Reaping story in history of the Hunger Games. Everyone already knew why Katniss volunteered but the real question would be why he did. Saint John wondered if their curiosity could be useful at some point. However, his thoughts left the moment he got a good look at the train's interior decor. He looked at the old wooden tables, soft plush chairs and the snacks lying around and thought it might be nice to ride in style for a change. He was led to his room for the train ride, saw the bed and yawned, suddenly feeling very tired. He stripped off his old, dirty but comfortable clothes and took a long hot shower. He soaked under the hot stream of water, washed his body and hair three times in some sweet smelling soap and just relaxed. The last shower he had was a couple of days ago but didn't spend a lot of time relaxing. He was still soaking when Effie knocked on his door to announce that dinner was almost ready. He toweled off and looked around the small bathroom for a razor to scrape the growth on his face but couldn't find one. He guessed they didn't want any tributes to have anything sharp in case they decided to open up a vein. They had to get to the game alive so they can die on camera for everyone to see. He looked at the mirror and got the first look at his body in more than a year. His hair was longer but still the wavy light brown he remembered. His dark hazel eyes looked back at him. Nothing special about them right now but they did change color depending on his mood. He looked down at his nearly flawless naked body and smiled. He flexed his muscles watching them ripple under his tight skin. He saw the thin light scar that went completely around his right upper arm. He looked at the tattoo on his left arm, a flaming bird in a dive. He knew it was the symbol of the group he belonged to but didn't remember getting the ink done. The skin under his left arm along his ribs was discolored from an intense burn he received three years ago. That injury was still fresh in his mind. Saint John dressed in a simple white shirt, dark blue pants and leather shoes, combed his hair out with his hands and left his room for dinner. He ran into Katniss as she left her room. He smiled at her and said, "You clean up nice Kat."

She scowled at him and walked away towards the next car.

Saint John shook his head wondering why she couldn't be at least civil with him. He smiled, looked up at the dark red carpeted ceiling and asked, "Why am I risking my life for a girl who can barely tolerate me?" He wasn't sure exactly why. One reason was no one else would, except maybe Gale, and she was far too important to too many people to just get killed. Second she was his friend and he couldn't just sit back and let a friend die. The last reason he didn't want to think about. It would just complicate things and confuse him. He needed to remain focused on the task at hand, teaching her how to fight and kill everything that got in their way.

He followed her into the dining car and found both Katniss and Effie sitting at the table with fine china set before them. Saint John took a spot next to Katniss and sat down. The meal was very good, centered around perfectly made lamb chops along with soup, mashed potatoes, salad, various cheeses and fruits and chocolate cake for dessert. Saint John wasn't that hungry but made himself eat about half his food. He wanted to laugh when he saw Katniss jump into the food with gusto. She ate like someone who'd ever had food before. He frowned when he realized she most likely never eaten so well in her life. It was good, one of the best things she could do was eat as much as she can without getting sick between now and the start of the game. He couldn't contain his laughter anymore when Kat abandoned her silverware after a comment from Effie about the last tributes not having any table manners. She has spirit, Saint John thought. He hoped she could focus that spirit, her fire into doing what had to be done to survive this. When Kat had eaten her fill, even looked a little green from it they went into another car to watch the Reapings from the other districts.

Aside from the volunteers from districts one, two and four all the other tributes looked as small, weak and sickly as most of the children in district 12. Well all except the boy from 11, Thresh; he looked big and powerful. Saint John made a note to keep an eye on him, the giant boy from one known as Marvel and a focused looking boy from two whose name was Kato. The girl from one known as Glimmer looked like she belonged in a beauty pageant, not a fight to the death. However, the girl from two, named Clove, had a look in her eye that made Saint John think she might be the most dangerous person in the game. Then he was watching Katniss take her sister's spot, Haymitch Abernathy, District 12's only surviving victor, fall off the stage and finally himself volunteering. The commentators seemed beside themselves at such a poor district having two volunteers. They made a big deal of some boy no one ever heard of stepping up and wanting to be a tribute. However, all they could do was speculate as to Saint John's motivations and soon the program was over.

Effie said, "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot to learn about televised behavior."

Saint John shook his head and said, "Our mentor's drunk he's always drunk, no wonder District 12's never won this thing since he did."

Both Effie and Katniss looked at him and asked at the same time, "Then why did you volunteer?"

Saint John looked at both of them smiling. Katniss looked away both a little embarrassed and angry. Effie just looked back at him obviously waiting for an answer. Saint John replied, "Ah, Miss Trinket, this is a game. I will tell everyone why I did it when it is most beneficial to us. But if you need an answer the short one is to keep Kat alive."

Katniss stared at him with one of the cutest confused looks Saint John had ever seen. Saint John started smiling broadly which made Katniss scowl again at him. Effie placed her hands on her face and asked, "Are you in love with Katniss?"

He shook his head, put up one finger and replied, "You're forgetting the game. No one finds out why until we're ready to tell them."

Effie was scowling at him as well. She looked like she was going to say something when Haymitch staggered in. He asked if he missed dinner, puked all over the carpet and fell face first into his own vomit.

Effie frowned at Haymitch current display. She looked back at Saint John, smiled and said, "I hope it is love that might get you two a few sponsors." She got up, stepped over the still passed out Haymitch and said, "That's if he can stay awake long enough to sign then up," and left.

Saint John looked down at the drunken slob, sighed and stood up. He walked over to the unconscious so-called mentor, bent over and checked his pulse. Once he was sure his heart was still beating he grabbed Haymitch by his hair and lifted his head up. He was studying the drunks face making sure he was still breathing when he felt someone slap his right arm. He looked up at an angry Katniss, said, "Ow," and dropped Haymitch's face back in his vomit. He stood up, rubbing his arm and said, "You know, it's not like I'd expect gratitude or anything but you could talk to me or at least stop scowling and hitting me."

"Gratitude for what? Why the hell are you here?"

"Why do you think I'm here? Why do you think I volunteered for this? I'm here to keep you alive and make sure you get back home."

"Well thanks, so at best I get to what, watch you die or have to kill you myself?"

Saint John shook his head and replied in a softer tone, "I wouldn't do that to you. If it comes to that I'll walk away and do myself."

Katniss stared at him for a second, her look neutral. She said in a very soft tone, "You really would kill yourself for me, wouldn't you." She looked down at her feet and continued, "I don't understand why, I hardly ever talked to you and when you talked to me it was always to tell me some joke or pick on me."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and said, "You're just distant, its how you survive. Believe me I understand not wanting to get close to others…."

Haymitch John groaned and asked, "Did I miss dinner? What smells so bad?

Saint John and Katniss looked at each and laughed. She asked, "We can't just leave him here, can we?"

Saint John looked down at him and said, "I got it." He grabbed Haymitch by his hair and started dragging him through the corridor.

Katniss laughed and said, "His hair's going to hurt in the morning."

"With his hangover, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference. You know why I joke and tease you?"

She shook her head.

"Because I like watching you laugh and smile. You don't do that enough."

He opened the door to Haymitch room, dragged him into the shower and started running the cold water on him. Haymitch groaned again and started swinging at the air. He tried to get up and Saint John pushed him back into the shower.

"Stay there you lush." He placed his arms on Katniss's shoulders again and asked, "Do you trust me?"

After a few seconds she nodded and Saint John continued, "Then I need you to do three things before the game begins. One you need to eat as much as you can before the game; don't know what kind of food we'll find, in any. Two, when were alone and I'm looking you in the eye, I need you to believe me and do what I tell you. Three, every day as often as you can I need you to find a mirror, look yourself in the eye and tell yourself you're going to win this. That the other tributes are no longer people, their just targets, obstacles to your survival that need to be destroyed. Picture your sister and Gale and anyone else you love back home and tell them you will be back when this is over. You have to keep doing this until there is no doubt in your mind that you are the victor of the 74 Hunger Games; they just haven't crowned you yet."

He could see the doubt in her eyes. He smiled and said, "You have all the skills to win this already except one; you're not prepared to kill. I can teach you how to fight, I can teach you how to wage a war but I can't make you believe you can win. That you have to do yourself."

Saint John moved over to Haymitch and said, "Later when I get a chance I'll introduce you to the "Art of War.""

"The "Art of War?""

Saint John started taking off Haymitch shirt and explained, "Sung-Tsu was a General a long time ago. He wrote a book called the "Art of War", most of which is still really useful in fighting a war against stronger opponents." He asked, "You want to help me with him?"

Katniss frowned and said, "No. not really."

"I didn't think so. I got it you go and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"You want me to get one of the Capital servants to help you?"

"Nope, he might be a drunk but he's our drunk. I'll take care of him. Good night Kat."

He continued taking off Haymitch's clothes. It took a few seconds but Katniss did leave the room. He washed the puke off Haymitch body, leaving the wet soiled clothes in the shower, picked him up on his shoulder and dumped the drunk on his bed. He placed the comforter on his body and left the room. Saint John went to his own room, stripped off his clothes and crawled into his own bed. He barely had time to notice the soft silky sheets or the beds comfort before he was asleep.

Saint John woke up quietly. He looked around surprised because at first he couldn't place where he was but after a second he remembered he was on the train to the Capital. He smiled and stretched. It was the first time in days he'd slept restfully. He took a shower and dressed in the same clothes he wore the night before. He ran into Effie when he opened his door. She gave him a fake smile and said, "Good, you're up and dressed. Come on its going to be a big, big, day today."

He growled. "Yeah, wouldn't want to miss it," and followed her into the dining car. Haymitch was already there, a plate of untouched food in front of him, holding his head in his hands. Saint John smirked, fell into the seat across from him and said loudly, "Good Morning!"

Haymitch growled something in response, probably an obscenity of some kind. He looked up at Effie and told her what he thought of her dress and what he would do to her if she ever got out of it. Effie scowled at him and walked away. Haymitch tried to laugh, then moaned again and returned his head to his hands. He asked, "Don't suppose you know why I woke up naked in my bed, my wet clothes in the shower?"

Saint John tried to keep a straight face and asked, "Were you alone?"

Haymitch scowled at him and poured a clear liquid from a flask into his tomato juice.

Saint John shook his head and asked, "Hair of the dog?"

Haymitch scowled again. He was almost as good at scowling at him as Katniss was. He chuckled not exactly sure what that meant either. He was going to attempt to explain when his food arrived. A hot pile of eggs, sausage, and fried potatoes. Saint John didn't realize he was hungry until the food arrived. The servant poured him a glass of orange juice, and small cups of hot chocolate and coffee. He looked up at the male servant dressed in immaculate white uniform and asked, "You have any French Vanilla flavored crème?"

The servant nodded and left. Saint John looked at Haymitch and asked, "Can I have a taste?"

Haymitch looked up at him and asked, "Taste?"

Saint John pointed at the flask. The servant returned with a small porcelain pitcher and poured some in Saint John's coffee. Saint John took a sip, leaned back and said, "Mmmm, nectar of the gods." He looked up at the servant, smiled and said, "Thank you very much." He then asked, "Could you bring more hot chocolate too? I think Kat's going to like it." The servant smiled, nodded and brought a small silver pitcher of the steaming liquid. He thanked the servant again and he left to return to his duties.

Haymitch asked, "How do you know what the girl will like?"

"Were friends, and she's a girl, girls like chocolate." Saint John reached out and snagged the flask before Haymitch could grab it and poured a small amount in his orange juice.

Haymitch asked as Saint John took a drink of the spiked OJ, "You drink coffee and booze; are you sure you're only 17?"

Saint John frowned, the stuff from the flask was the worst tasting rot gut alcohol he'd ever had. He said, "That's what my birth certificate says." He set the glass down, took a drink off coffee to get the taste out of his mouth and asked, "How can you drink that stuff?"

"It helps me forget. So why did you volunteer?"

Saint John started eating forkfuls of his food, it tasted incredible. He thought he could get used to good food again and said, "She's my friend." He looked up and asked, "How do you know I volunteered, you were passed out by then?"

"I watched a replay of the Reaping. If I knew it was going to be that interesting I wouldn't have drank so much."

"Glad I could amuse you," and kept eating.

Haymitch stared at him for a few seconds, took a drink and said, "I know you from somewhere."

"Were both from District 12."

"That's not it, you owe me money or something?"

Saint John continued eating without saying a word. Katniss came in and sat down next to him. Saint John looked at her and said, "Good morning Kitten."

Katniss scowled at him and said, "Don't call me kitten."

Saint John smiled. He was going to push the issue when Haymitch grabbed his head again and asked, "Why does my hair hurt?"

Katniss laughed so hard she nearly choked on her food. Saint John had hot coffee come out of his nose which made them both laugh even harder.

Haymitch scowled even harder at them and asked, "What the hell's so funny?"

Saint John wiped his face with a napkin and said, "Private joke." He pointed at Katniss' hot chocolate and said, "Try the hot chocolate, I think you'll like it." She sipped it, her eyes went wide and she smiled. "I'll trade you my hot chocolate for your coffee," and switched the cups.

When Katniss had finished her food and drained the small pot of hot chocolate, she looked at their mentor and asked, "So aren't you supposed to give us advice?"

Haymitch poured more clear alcohol in his juice and growled, "Here's some advice, stay alive."

Saint John finished this third cup of coffee and replied, "Nice, if that's the best you can do no wonder no one from 12 has won this thing since you."

"You have no idea what you're talking about boy," and started to take a drink from his cup.

Saint John had enough of this guy. It was one thing to mess with his life but this guys drinking was threatening his friends. He felt his muscles begin to swell, his senses sharpen and his mind begin think faster. He had to be careful and control his anger. The last thing he needed was to cripple the old drunk. He slapped the cup from Haymitch's hand and said, "Do your job and answer her question."

Haymitch watched the cup fly into the wall, looked at Saint John and swung his right fist at him. Saint John used a cross block to deflect the punch and then in the same move hit the heel of his right hand against Haymitch's sternum. He didn't hit him that hard but it was enough to make the drunk fall back in his chair.

Haymitch looked up at him shocked, like he wasn't sure he saw what happened or he was hallucinating it. While still staring at Saint John he reached for his flask when Katniss buried a knife in the table by it nearly missing his hand.

Haymitch sat back and asked, "Well, do I have a couple of fighters this time?" He looked at Katniss and asked, "Can you hit anything besides the table with that thing?"

Saint John had seen Katniss throw knives before, usually to make sure a animal she'd shot was really dead but was very impressed when she flipped it in the air, grabbed it by the blade and threw it into a seam in the wall across the room.

"Good, stand up over there and let me look at you," he pointed at the other side of the table. Saint John and Katniss looked at each other and did as they were told. Haymitch walked around them poking them from time to time checking their muscles. He looked at their faces and said, "You two aren't bad looking and when you're stylists are done you'll be pretty enough." He walked around to Saint John's back.

Saint John sensed the attack just as Haymitch came at him. Saint John spun around to his right, hooked his right arm under Haymitch's left, grabbed the back of his head and bent him down until his nose was an inch above the table.

To his surprise Haymitch started laughing. Saint John let him up and asked, "Do I pass?"

"I thought I knew you. I lost money on you the last time you fought." He slapped Saint John's arm, looked at Katniss and said, "You're in a lot of trouble sweetheart."

Saint John looked at Katniss and saw the fear in her eyes; she remembered where she first seen him and where he first saw her. He smiled, put his right arm around her shoulders and said, "No she's not. I'm here to help her win. She's going home."

Haymitch stared at him in disbelief and said, "We'll see. You may think differently when the game starts."

Haymitch ran his hand though his hair and said, "Alright, I'll make a deal with you two. You don't interfere with my drinking and I'll stay sober enough to help you but you have to do exactly what I say."

Saint John had been around enough drunks in his life to know not to believe them but Katniss said, "Alright." She then asked, "So help us. When we get to the arena what's the best strategy at the Cornucopia for someone…."

Haymitch held up his hands and said, "Hold on sweetheart, one thing at a time. In a few minutes we'll be at the Capital and you'll be put in the hands of your stylists. You won't like what they do but no matter what it is don't resist."

"But…"

"No buts, don't resist," he grabbed his flask and left the room.

Katniss walked over to the window and watched the Capital start to appear over the hill. Saint John joined her and watched until the train was swallowed up by the darkness of the tunnel. She asked, "You used to fight for money back behind the Hob, didn't you?"

People stage fights in a pit behind the Hob for money. People bet on their favorite fighters and the winner is the one left standing. It was a quick and easy way to make money, if you can fight. Before his last fight he saw this skinny kid trying to sell a couple of rabbits to some guy that was trying to watch the fight. Afterwards he saw that same kid sitting on the counter at Greasy Sae's eating a bowl of her soup with Gale. He replied without looking at her, "Yeah, I saw you before my last one talking to that miner."

"You were fighting four miners. I thought you were going to be killed until I saw the miners being carried out on tables."

"Yeah, I had to hurt three of them. Usually when you knock someone down they stay down so they don't get too hurt but three of them didn't like the idea of a kid beating them. They kept getting back up so I had to hurt them. That was the last time I fought for money. Besides I made enough to start my little side business." He could tell she knew what he meant. The train could be bugged and it wouldn't be a good idea to admit to smuggling shit under the Capital's nose. He looked down at his feet feeling a little fatigued.

Katniss asked in a concerned voice, "You alright."

He looked up smiling and replied, "I'm fine. Just coming off the adrenaline rush. I think I drank too much coffee, not used to it."

The train was pulling into the station. The crowd was waving trying to get a glimpse of what had become a somewhat famous pair of tributes; the two volunteers from District 12. As the train came to a stop Saint John smiled and started waving at the crowd. He looked down at a surprised Katniss and said, "Couldn't hurt to be friendly."

She started smiling and waving as well. She asked, "Do you think Haymitch is right?"

"I think we might as well play it his way. He might know what he's talking about and it couldn't hurt."

He looked down at her and asked, "Kat, do you believe me when I say I'm here to help you, that I wouldn't hurt you?"

She looked up at him for a second and said, "I'm not sure. Maybe if you told me why you're doing this."

"You're my friend. I don't have many left. You have people that love and need you. No one gives a damn what happens to me."

Katniss reached up and turned his face towards hers. She looked like she was going to cry. She said, "I give a damn. Gale gives a damn."

He smiled and said, "And that's why I will do whatever it takes to get you home." He held out his hand and asked, "So, partners?"

She looked at his face for a second, took his hand and said, "Partners."

He looked back at the crowd and said, "Come on lets meet our adoring fans," and they left the train.


	3. Chapter 3

Life in the Big City

"There, you look much better now; not so uncivilized," a thin woman with short cut dark purple hair and pale skin. She ran her hand though his fresh cut hair and continued, "It has just enough wave to accent your face perfectly. A lovely color too." She looked to the others and said, "Let's stand him up and do a final check before we see Portia."

She stood back as Saint John stood up. The other two, a man with long, pink hair and a overweight, older woman with long, silver hair took his robe off him and all three of them stood back to look at their handy work. He stood there completely naked, his hands at his side listening to their comments about his body. The older woman liked his eyes. The younger woman that did his hair and shaved his face with a sharp, straight blade still liked his hair. All three of them, including the overweight man really liked his body. The scars on his arm and side distressed them slightly but decided something called a full body polish was the only way to get rid of them and it would take too long. He found it interesting that none of them commented on the fire bird tattoo on his left shoulder.

The younger woman looked down at his crotch, placed her hand on her chin and said, "I think we need to clean that up a bit."

Saint John frowned and thought, Clean what up? He decided the hell with what Haymitch said there was no way he was letting anyone near his dick with a blade.

The woman saw the expression on his face and laughed. She said, "Not that. I meant the hair. I think you might look better without any body hair."

Saint John felt a wave of relief come over him until he realized that meant either having a sharp blade or hot wax on his privates. The others laughed. The man said, "It's our job to make you look beautiful, not mutilate you."

The two women in agreement, apparently liking what they were looking at. The older one said, "I don't think so. There isn't that much body hair and what he has looks good. He's about ready for Portia, let's go tell her."

The three prep. team members left him alone in the room still naked. Saint John looked in the mirror and liked what his team did. He needed a haircut and a shave anyway and the woman did a fantastic job. He rubbed his smooth, shaved face still feeling the lotion she placed on him afterward. They scrubbed him clean with like three different kinds of soap that first removed dead skin and then made him smell vaguely like lilacs. They gave him a manicure and a pedicure, neither of which he'd ever had before. Again not a bad experience. It only took a couple of hours. The worst part was having to be naked around these people but like they said he had a pretty fit looking body and nothing to be ashamed of.

A dark skinned woman with metal finger nails on her right hand and what looked like a blonde wig walked into the room. Her face looked slightly pale accenting the dark lipstick she wore even more. Overall not a bad looking woman, which made Saint John feel just a little self conscious standing there naked. She smiled and said, "Hello, I'm Portia you're stylist. Please just stand there and let me look at you for a few minutes." She walked around his body examining every centimeter, which made Saint John feel even more self conscious. He tried to will himself not to blush but could feel his face getting warm. She came back around to face him, studied him and said, "Well, the team was right." She reached to touch his hair and said, "You do have wonderful hair." Her hand went down his face, she stared in his eyes, smiled and said, "And your eyes are lovely too."

Saint John smiled back and said, "Thank you."

She stepped back and looked down at the rest of his body. For several seconds she just stood there staring at him. She finally said, "You know I wouldn't have expected someone from an outlying district to look so healthy. You've taken fantastic care of yourself."

"Thanks again. The team seemed bothered by my scars."

Portia shook her head and replied, "The scars wouldn't be a problem. For what Cinna and I have planned for you and your fellow tribute they will remain covered." She stepped back, looked at him for a few seconds and said, "You are quite attractive. It'll make my job much easier." She pointed at his tattoo and asked, "That's interesting; didn't think the outlining districts did such things. Does it have any meaning?"

Saint John wasn't sure how to answer that question without say way too much so he just stood there naked, embarrassed and quiet.

He looked at the robe sitting in the chair. He confessed he was feeling a little self conscious and asked if he could put it on.

Portia smiled and said, "Of course, I think I've seen everything I need to and there's no reason for you to feel uncomfortable."

He put the robe on and the stylist led him into the larger room. The room had a high ceiling, huge couch in front of a large table. The couch faced a huge window that offered a breathtaking view of the Capital skyline. It looked about late morning but had become overcast so it was a little difficult to tell from the sun what time it was.

She smiled, motioned for him to sit in a couch next to her and asked him if he wanted anything to drink. Saint John took a cup of coffee with his favorite crème in it. Portia asked questions about him, who he was, does he know Katniss, what their lives were like in District 12. He gave her some simple answers but mostly sipped his coffee and stared out the window at nothing.

She tapped him on the shoulder to get him to look at her. She looked in his eyes and said, "You know there's more to my job than just making you look your best. I'm also your confidant. Anything you say to me I wouldn't repeat to anyone."

Saint John looked into her soft brown eyes not sure what he wanted to say. He wanted to talk to someone and she seemed sincere. He said, "I'm just wondering how Kat's doing?"

She gave him a questioningly look and asked, "Kat?"

He laughed and said, "Katniss, she hates it when I call her Kat. Really hates it when I call her Kitten."

She smiled and said, "I'll bet you call her Kitten all the time."

He nodded and gave her a questioning look.

"You're friends, aren't you?"

He nodded again.

"Well, she's probably still in Remake. It usually takes longer for girls, more work to do."

"You're partners with her stylist?"

"Yes, Cinna and I volunteered to be your stylists."

He frowned at her and asked, "Why? District 12 isn't exactly the most prestigious assignment?"

"The outlining Districts are always overlooked. We wanted to change that. And when we saw both of you volunteer, well, we just had to be a part of it."

Saint John thought this could really work to their benefit. If their stylists could make others take notice it might bring them sponsors that could help him save her life.

She looked at him intently and asked, "I am wondering why you would volunteer to fight to the death against a friend?"

He gave her the same excuse he told Peeta's father. Only this time he knew the sadness he felt was reflected in his face.

Portia frowned and asked, "There's more than friendship between the two of you; isn't there?"

Saint John still wasn't sure exactly how he felt about Katniss and didn't really want to talk about it. But the sudden smile coming on the stylists face told him she wasn't going to let it go.

"You have real feelings for her. You really love her don't you?"

Saint John cursed himself out in his mind. He was better at hiding his feelings than that. He had no idea how to answer that since he really didn't know if he was in love with her or not.

Portia placed her hands on her face and said, "Oh my God you are in love with her. Does she know?"

Saint John shook his head and said, "I'm not sure how I feel. She can barely stand being around me. I just hope she can trust me. It might be best if she doesn't know how I feel."

"I guess I could understand that. I would be hard for her to live with the fact that she's alive because a man that loved her died."

"Well that and there's someone else that loves her. He's better for her anyway."

Portia placed her hands on his face and said, "I doubt that. Any woman would be very lucky to have touched your heart."

Saint John smiled, placed his hands on her face and asked, "Anyone ever told you you have lovely brown eyes?"

"A few times."

"And I think you'd look better without all the makeup and if you're hair was its natural color."

"That's sweet but as your stylist I'm forbidden."

"Pity. So what's the plan for us?"

She smiled, pressed a button, the top of the table separated and lunch was served. She said, "Well, we wanted you to be unforgettable. So after lunch we'll get to work on that."

He made himself eat most of the lunch skipping the dessert. In the last day he'd eaten more than he normally did in a week. He hoped the extra food and lack of exercise didn't slow him down too much. He'd have to find a way to work out to keep his edge.

Portia fixed up his hair again and dressed him in a one piece uni-tard suit, thin cape with high leather boots. When he was dressed he looked in the mirror and thought he looked good but not exactly unforgettable. Saint John said, "Nice."

Portia laughed and said, "But were not done yet."

He looked over at her wondering what she meant.

"As you know it is tradition that you are dressed to reflect the district you come from. Now Cinna and I thought the whole miner thing has been way over done so we decided to concentrate on the coal itself." She pulled out a small torch and continued, "Or more specifically what we do with coal."

He frowned and asked, "So you're going to set me on fire?"

"In a manner of speaking…" and explained what she and Cinna had in mind.

Saint John, followed by Portia walked to the elevator when he saw Katniss looking unbelievably beautiful in more or less the same suit he was wearing. A rather attractive dark skinned man more or less dressed like a real person was standing next to her waiting for them to arrive. He guessed that was Cinna. Suddenly the idea of him seeing her naked made him mad. They took the elevator to the basement stables to take their places on the chariot that would take them on their parade around the square, to the President's residence and back to the training center.

As they walked over to the last chariot in the line she looked up at him and stared for a second. She looked away suddenly and said in a quiet voice, "What did you say to me on the train; you clean up nice."

Saint John smiled and said, "Why thank you Kitten, and you look absolutely incredible."

She frowned and said, "Don't call me Kitten."

She waited for a few seconds and asked, "So, what do you think about the whole setting us on fire?"

"Well, we'd have to ask Effie but I think it would be bad form and the height of rudeness to flambeau us before the other tributes get the chance to hack us apart."

She looked up at him scowling as usual and asked, "Can't you ever be serious? You know they'll still send us to the arena even if were burned up?"

Saint John shook his head and replied, "I don't think our stylists are trying to flame broil us but just in case if we start burning I'll pull your cape off and you pull mine, deal?"

"Deal."

He helped her onto their black chariot and watched Katniss fidget with her fingers trying not to chew on her nails. He bumped her shoulder and when she looked up at him he said, "Kat, relax. I spent the morning talking to Portia; I think they're on our side. Whatever this fake fire is I'm fairly certain its safe."

"Yeah, me too. Sorry I'm just nervous."

Saint John looked forward at the other chariots and said, "So am I."

"Don't like crowds either?"

"No I don't but I'm getting a little anxious, usually do before a fight. That and Its hitting me that I'll never see 12 again. Guess I'm missing Gale and a few others. Even some of the prettier girls." He hoped the last comment would get a reaction from her.

He heard Katniss ask in a weak voice, "Are you changing your mind about helping me?"

He smiled, looked down at her slightly but well hidden scared expression and said, "No Kat. I made a promise to Gale and your sister that you were coming back to them. Besides nothing's changed; you still have people that love and need you. No one even knows my name."

Saint John looked back forward laughed and said, "Wonder how many will cry over the boy that died for you. The boy that no one knew." He cringed the moment the words came out of his mouth. The last person he wanted to vent in front of was Katniss. None of this was her fault and she was going to feel bad enough when it was over. He and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take it out on you; none of this is your fault. It's just it bothers me when people cry and say good things about dead people they didn't even want to know when they were alive. The dead don't care what someone thinks about them but being kind to the living and telling them how you feel about them might help."

She looked away from him. It was hard to tell but Saint John believed he upset her by his outburst. He was going to try to comfort her, tell her this really wasn't her fault. It was his decision to do help her and if he died it was all on him.

However, before he could say anything Katniss asked, "Is that what you really think? That people should tell others how they feel before its too late?"

Saint John looked away from her as well. Even though he was a more or less typical guy and hated talking about his feelings it seemed to him that there were times when you had to be honest with those you love. But in this case he wasn't completely sure how he felt. Besides telling her how he might feel might make this whole thing harder on both of them. He looked at her at the same time she turned to face him. He looked into her light grey eyes and completely forgot what he was going to say. She kept staring into his with a look he'd seen before on more than a couple of lovers. The situation was fast becoming far more complicated than he ever wanted it to. A part of him wished this would end in his death. Then he wouldn't have to feel the pain of lost love again. They felt someone board their chariot and turned to see Cinna standing behind them smiling with a small torch in his hand. Saint John was never so glad to see someone in his life.

"Here we go then," and lights their capes. He stepped back and said, "It works, now heads held high. Smiles. They're going to love you."

Saint John felt a slight tingling sensation on his back but no pain or heat. He smiled as the chariot followed the others out of the stable. He could barely hear Cinna yell, "Hold hands." He looked at Katniss who looked at him and asked, "What did he say?"

"He said to hold hands," and held out his right hand to her. Katniss took his hand in her ice cold left and squeezed hard. He smiled at her and said, "Let's have fun with this. Let's show them we're still alive." He raised both their arms, smiled and started waving at the cheering crowd. He acted like they had already won the games and this was their victory tour. As he waved, reaching out to the crowd that tried to reach out to them he saw their picture on one of the many screens that covered the parade route. He smiled even wider. They looked spectacular; Katniss looked like a mythological goddess of fire. She looked like she could command fire. They both began to feed off the crowds energy; blowing kisses at them reaching out to them. Saint John would point at a woman and smile at her like he wanted to be with her. Katniss, although not singling anyone one person out did the same thing to the crowd at general. When the precession stopped in front of the President's residence for his opening speech he tried to let go of her hand and she squeezed even harder.

She looked at him and said, "Don't let go."

He smiled back, took the rose from her free hand, placed it in her hair and said, "Never, not in a million years."

When the President finished and the National anthem was played the line of chariots returned to the stable. When they had stopped Cinna and Portia are there. They helped them from the chariot, removed the still flaming capes and put them out with an extinguisher. Saint John grabbed Katniss in his arms, lifted her off the floor and hugged her tightly. He set her back on the ground and asked, "Did you feel that…that energy?"

She nodded smiling widely and said, "They loved us."

Saint John put his arms on her shoulders and replied, "No Kat, they loved you. You were beyond beautiful, beyond…" He couldn't think of the best way of describing her. She looked so stunning to him it took his breath away.

Katniss finished his thought by saying very quietly, "I was unforgettable."

That was exactly what he couldn't put into words. He smirked at her and said, "That's one way to put it I guess."

She frowned and asked, "I guess that was a little too…"

He interrupted her by placing his hand on her cheek, stared into her light grey eyes and said, "That was exactly it; the unforgettable girl on fire." He paused for a second and said, "Look, you need to remember what this felt like, what it felt like to have people cheering for you, chanting your name. When things in the game get bad that feeling might give you an edge to go a little farther and do what you need to do. Love can be very powerful so when you're feeling down and lost remember those you love. Think about Primrose, Gale, your mother and…well… know I'll be there with you until it's over." He wanted to say more, wanted to tell her what he felt at that moment; that he loved her. Instead he looked down at his feet embarrassed and angry with himself for feeling this.

Katniss smiled and replied, "Saint John….." That was when their stylists and teams herded them to the elevator to take them to their homes for the next few days.

Saint John said nothing to anyone, even when Effie Trinket demonstrated her complete ignorance when she said something about pearls coming from coal. He felt embarrassed, humiliated and knew this would end in both of them hurting beyond description. He didn't even bother to check out his new digs but went straight to his assigned apartment shut the door and took off his costume. He tried taking a shower but his anger along with the complicated controls just made him even more frustrated. He looked at himself in the mirror enraged. He had that feeling of power that came over him when he was anger or afraid. As he felt his muscles swell and nerves become faster he watched his eyes become darker his mind became sharp fast and most importantly clears. That clarity cooled his anger and provided him both focus and prospective. He watched in the mirror as his body returned to normal and did the only thing he could think of in situations like this; he laughed. He reminded himself he can't give in to his anger or fear. The best way to do that was to act like a dick. Make people laugh and irritate as many as he could. Basically he needed to have a little fun. He left the bathroom and checked out his new bedroom. The bed itself looked soft and comfortable. The closet and dressers were full of clothes apparently made just for him. The picture window in front of a small couch looked over the city. He tested the window controls and realized he could focus and zoom in on a section of the city or change it completely into different views like the woods outside District 12. He wanted to check out the rest of their apartment so he got dressed in simple black pants, short sleeve shirt and soft running shoes and left the room.

The rest of their quarters was huge, with separate dining and sitting rooms and a huge balcony overlooking the city. He walked around feeling the soft expensive furnishings. He thought they spare no expense for those that are about to die for them. The rest of their entourage was in the sitting room making small talk until they saw him come in. Portia and Cinna walked over to him. She smiled warmly and introduced her partner to him. He held out his right hand to the handsome man and smiled. Cinna was still wearing a simple dark shirt and pants he wore during the Tribute's parade. In fact the only thing he wore that seemed remotely unusual was gold eyeliner but for some reason he made it work. He looked around and saw a collection of crystal bottles with various colored liquids in them along with several crystal glasses sitting around a wooden pail. A bar. He smiled and decided a drink was just what he needed. He excused himself from the stylists and walked over. He picked up bottle that had a dark amber liquid in it. He pulled the topper off and sniffed; whiskey. He grabbed a glass, filled it about a quarter of the way up and downed the drink. It was just about the finest whiskey he'd ever tasted. He grabbed some ice and filled his glass with whiskey. He took a sip and looked at the others. Haymitch looked amused, Effie looked horrified and the stylists seemed a little curious. He asked, "So, they let us drink around here?"

Cinna replied, "Well, the alcohol is mostly for us but there's no reason you can't imbibe. Do you drink often?"

Saint John sipped his drink, smiled and said, "Not really, just on occasion but after everything that's happened today a little whiskey is just what I need." He looked around the room and asked, "Anyone else want a drink?"

Cinna and Portia smiled and pointed to the blue liquor. He poured it into a pair of glasses without ice and handed it to them. Effie came over no longer looking so horrified and took a glass of pink stuff. Saint John looked over at the balcony and yelled, "Haymitch, I know you want one. It beats the hell out of the turpentine you normally drink."

Haymitch declined with a rude no.

Saint John looked surprised and said to the group, "Never thought he'd turn down a drink."

The others, even Effie, chuckled slightly. Cinna took a sip and said, "Portia was right, you are charming."

Saint John looked over at the young woman that promised to keep his secrets. "Really, what else did she tell you?"

Cinna smiled and replied, "Only that you're charming and appear to be in excellent physical condition." He placed his free hand on his shoulder and said, "She's your stylist. She would never share your strategy with anyone including me."

Saint John smiled. "It doesn't matter since we're all on the same team."

Effie and Portia had a sad dreamy look in their eyes like they just heard the most romantic thing in the world. Haymitch snorted, obviously not believing he was going to fight for Katniss. Only Cinna seemed a little confused by his statement.

He asked, "What team is that?"

Saint John was about to explain when Haymitch yelled from the balcony with more than a little sarcasm in his voice, "He thinks he's going to sacrifice himself for that girl."

Cinna raised an eyebrow and said, "Really, that's extraordinary. I've never heard of someone dying for another in the game, temporary alliances for certain but self sacrifice?" He looked at Saint John intently and said, "Unless this is some kind of strategy to gain an edge against her."

Haymitch laughed. He yelled back at the group, "The way he fights he doesn't need an edge. He could win this thing if he would get his head in the game and stop acting like some love sick school boy."

Saint John held his drink up towards his mentor and said, "Why, thank you Haymitch. I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." He scowled, took a drink and said under his breath just loud enough for their small group to hear, "Asshole."

The two stylists had to stifle a laugh. Effie scowled back at him obviously offended. He looked at all three of them and said, "Well, he is an asshole."

Portia and Cinna didn't even try to stop laughing. They finished their drinks and Saint John poured them another. Effie's scowl almost turned into a smile. She said, "He might be but such language isn't used in polite company."

Saint John smiled warmly and replied, "You're correct Ms. Trinket." He took her right hand with his, kissed it and said, "I apologize if I offended you."

Effie was beaming at his gesture. She replied, "There just might be hope for you yet Mr. Jamison."

Cinna looked at him for a few seconds like he wanted Saint John to elaborate further. Saint John was afraid he already disclosed too much, not to the people in the room but to anyone else that might be listening. He assumed their apartment had to be bugged. He needed someplace private to train Katniss and develop the details of their strategy. He was considering his options when Effie excused herself to check on dinner.

Saint John groaned and said, "Dinner, I'm still full from breakfast." He set his drink on the bar, bent down and placed his hands on the thick carpeted floor. He then slowly raised his body into a handstand and started doing pushups. He knocked out a hundred and back flipped to his feet. They all, including Haymitch had gathered around him. Cinna applauded and said, "Excellent, you're very strong."

Saint John replied without looking at anyone, "Thank you." He stretched his arms out and said, "If I keep eating like this I'm going to slow down too much. I need someplace to work out."

Portia said, "Well, tomorrow you begin training. You can work off some of your indulgence there while you learn."

Cinna picked up Saint John's drink, handed it to him and asked, "You want to take a walk?"

Saint John nodded, it wasn't the walk but the way Cinna asked that peaked his interest.

Cinna took Portia's hand and said to the others, "We'll be back before dinner," and led him into the hall.

Saint John followed the pair through an unlocked door at the end of the hall and up a set of stairs to a huge open roof. The sun was almost completely below the horizon creating an orange glow in the western sky. The wind was strong, cool and because of all the buildings seemed to come from several directions at once. He walked over to the edge of the roof and asked, "They really just let us up here?" He looked back and saw Cinna nod. He looked back and wondered if anyone had ever jumped. He was about to ask when he thought of something. He reached out towards the edge with his right hand and felt a small electric shock hit his fingers, like static shock. At the same time his hand was pushed away from the edge. He smiled and said, "A shield." He looked back at the two stylists and asked, "Electro-magnetic field?"

Cinna's furrowed his brow and said, "Yeah I think so."

Saint John looked back at the invisible shield, up at the darkening sky and thought this could work. The EM field and the wind would make audio and video surveillance all but impossible.

As Saint John walked back Cinna asked, "May I ask how someone from your district would know how a force field works?"

He replied quietly, "I know lots of things. I'm just not sure where I learned them."

Cinna's eyebrow went up again. Portia looked at Saint John like she was asking his permission to explain. He nodded and she told him about his amnesia. So far the stylists had done more for them than anyone, they seemed to be on their side so he decided he could trust them to a point. Besides, even if the worst happened and he was discovered he had a plan. It would be bloody, violent and ugly and would most likely result in the destruction of District 12 but then there would be nothing holding him back. Portia and Cinna led him around the roof, which he thought would make a decent running track, to a elaborate domed garden. He walked towards the plants and thought how strange they looked in the sea of barren black. The flowers and shrubs looked nothing like the vegetation he was used to in his adopted home but still he did feel a little better.

Cinna and Portia left him to his thoughts and spoke quietly. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. Despite the wind he could hear enough of their conversation to know they were discussing his intent to die for his friend. His eyes focused on one particular flower. He picked two of them, went back to the stylists and placed one in Portia's hair. She smiled, touched it and gave him a questioning look. Saint John said, "Just a small thanks for making me look incredible." He held the other one up and said, "For Kat. It'll remind her of home."

Cinna asked, "Primrose, isn't it?"

Saint John nodded. "Her sister's named Primrose. Thought it might help get her through the next few days."

Cinna studied his eyes for a second and said, "Either you're very cunning or you truly intend to do what you have to to get Katniss home."

Saint John flashed a thin smile and said, "I guess you have to decide which one."

Cinna was quiet for a minute like he was trying to decide who this strange young man was. Portia smiled at Saint John apparently deciding his intentions were more or less honorable. Saint John turned back towards the city and watched the orange glow die to complete darkness. Cinna asked, "Do you have a plan?"

Saint John turned around and by the time he finished his drink he'd gave them a basic outline of what he had in mind. When he finished he added, "Of course most battle plans don't survive first contact with the enemy but it will give us a starting point."

Cinna stood there for a few seconds, placed his arm on Saint John's shoulder and waved Portia over. The three hugged for a second. Cinna said, "I knew when I saw both of you volunteer we'd made the right decision. We will do whatever we can to help you keep her alive."

Saint John replied, "You already have. You made everyone notice us during the parade. If you can help get us through the interviews, we can take it from there. This whole beauty thing is your arena, survival is Katniss' and combat is mine."

Portia looked troubled and asked, "What of Haymitch and Ms. Trinket? Surely they will help?"

Saint John shrugged and replied, "I'm not sure how much help Effie will be but I'm certain she'll do her best. As far as Haymitch goes, well, never place your trust in a drunk. Once the game starts I have to assume we're on our own. If we get help so much the better."

The three released their embrace. Portia said, "We should go back down. Dinner's probably ready by now and Effie will be looking for us."

Dinner wasn't quite ready and Haymitch had left to go to his own room. Saint John refreshed everyone's drinks and they stood out on the balcony in silence. When dinner was nearly ready Effie excused herself to get Katniss. Saint John slams his drink down and states he's had enough for one night, much to the apparent relief of Portia. She seemed somewhat worried he might have a drinking problem. They joined Katniss at the table. Saint John held the flower he picked up to her. Katniss looked stunned for a second, took the flower and smiled. She sniffed it gently, looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Saint John took the flower from her, handed it to a servant and asked him to place it in a vase and put it in her room. Just as dinner arrived they were joined by a vastly improved looking Haymitch. He was cleaned, shaved and even wore decent clothes. The servers poured wine which everyone except Saint John drank. He hated wine, it always gave him a headache and upset his stomach. Dinner was quite excellent, spicy mushroom soup, rare roast beef, noodles with a green sauce. Saint John choked most of it down feeling very full afterwards. Katniss drank half her wine and switched to water. She didn't look too sick but didn't seem to like the buzz she caught from the wine. Saint John smiled and thought she should stick to hot chocolate. The red headed girl servant brought in desert, a cake, and lit it. Flaming costumes and deserts, these guys are kind of obsessed with fire, he thought. He sipped his coffee only partially paying attention to the conversation until Katniss thought she knew the servant girl. That seemed to get everyone's attention. She was called an Avox and according to Effie you don't speak to them or admit to knowing them. Haymitch an Avox was a traitor to the government whose punishment was having their tongues cut out and forced to serve the government they betrayed. The word traitor got Saint John's attention. He doubted there would be any real trouble even if Katniss did know her but just in case he decided to try to make everyone feel at ease. He took another sip of coffee, came up with a passable story and said casually, "Mellark's girlfriend."

Now everyone was looking at him. He remained very casual, like none of this mattered and finished his coffee. He looked up at the window and said, "Girl looks just like her, same hair and eyes hangs around the bakery talking to Peeta, holding his hand. I'm guessing she's his girlfriend. Don't know her name. Hell, I didn't even know Peeta's name until the Reaping. Only know he's Mellark's son because I've done business with him from time to time." He then looked at Katniss and said, "Good eye Kitten," thinking, say it and don't smile.

Katniss gave him a partial scowl and growled, "Don't call me Kitten."

Good, he thought, that should sell it to everyone. Portia smiled, possibly remembering his conversation with him about her hating to be called Kitten. Every else was still looking at them like they were not completely convinced so he said, "I never even saw it until you mentioned knowing her. That kind of awareness will keep you alive in the game." He looked around the table, laughed and said, "Come on guys, a traitor in 12. The three of us here are the most exciting thing that's ever happened in 12."

The table seemed to relax a bit. Cinna replied, "Oh well, if that's all it is. And yes, the cake has spirits, but all the alcohol has burned off. I ordered it specially in honor of your fiery debut."

Saint John refused the cake and asked for some juice instead. Once they finished dinner they retired to the sitting room to watch the replay of the parade. As they left the room Katniss mouthed, "Thank you" to him. He winked and mouthed back, "You're welcome."

They looked even more spectacular on TV. Saint John and Katniss seemed to get an unusual amount of attention from the broadcasters. They're holding hands seemed to attract as much conversation as continued speculation as to why Saint John had volunteered to be a tribute. While they were watching he noticed Katniss would look over at him and turn away suddenly. Portia touched his shoulder and gave him a concerned look. He smiled back at her trying to show her that nothing was wrong; she wasn't buying it but didn't pry. Haymitch seemed to like the holding hands bit, he called it just the right amount of rebellion. Saint John thought that was an interesting choice of words. Rebellion, the women thinking he was in love with her, maybe Haymitch could be of some use in this after all. He would talk to him about it later when they were alone. Haymitch then suddenly dismissed him and Katniss by saying something about the grownups wanting to talk. Tomorrow the tributes being their official training for the game which meant him and Katniss would begin the unofficial training tonight.

He asked her as they stopped in front of her room, "You been up on the roof yet?"

She shook her head and looked questioningly at him. He told her to put on more comfortable clothes and grab something with padding. When she returned in dark sweats like his he led her up to the roof and over to the garden Cinna showed him earlier in the day. The city was lit up by street lights and seemed like a sea of glowing stars and clouds of light to him. Katniss seemed enchanted by the glow of the city night. Saint John stopped by the garden and said, "With all the wind and the force field they we can't be overheard of watched so we have some time to ourselves."

"Force field?"

He took her over to the edge and showed her the invisible barrier that kept people from jumping off the building. He told her that the electromagnetic energy would induce a electric field in the metal structure of the building and should interfere with video surveillance to some degree.

Even in the dark he could see her scowl. She asked, "How do you know that?"

"I'm not sure. I just do. Now I have four days to teach you how to defend yourself and fight a war. I can do it but I need you to trust me and do what I tell you."

She nodded.

"Good," He moved over to the edge of the garden to a small area of grass and motioned for her to join him. He said, "Ok, do what I do," and leaped to the ground rolling on his right shoulder back up to his feet. Katniss copied his move exactly. He smiled and did the same thing on his left shoulder which she also copied. He then fell backwards, placing his weight and hands under his shoulders and pushed off leaping to his feet. It took a couple of times and some encouragement but she was eventually able to master that one too. She looked at him skeptically. He knew she didn't understand what this had to do with fighting. He had her stand like she was going to shoot her bow and walked behind her. He told her to move her right leg a little to the right as he kicked it gently into the right position. He then took her arms and raised them so her hands were level with her shoulders. He then stood in front of her mimicking the stance he placed her in, said, "Roll right," and punched at her. Katniss rolled on her shoulder avoiding his punch and back to her feet more or less behind him. The surprised look made him smile. He had her come back and did the same thing only to the left. He missed her and she ended up behind him again. The next one he told her to fall back. He spun around lashing out with his right leg in a round kick that went over her head. Katniss leaped back up to her feet even more surprised that one she could pull the move off and two that Saint John could kick like that. He told her to always go back to her defensive stance when facing an opponent. He told her the best defense is to not get hit at all. She knew how hard it was to hit a moving target so if she could keep moving she would avoid getting hit. He grabbed her right arm and told her to roll right. When she did her arm was wrenched free of his grip. They did the same with her left arm. He got her back in the stance and said, "Always look them in the eyes and keep their shoulders in sight. Their eyes will tell you where they are going to hit and the shoulders will tell you when." When she was in the proper stance he moved to her right, stood next to her and told her to do what he did. He started by placing the palms of his hands together, fingers up above her stomach. Then raise her hands to her face and separate them creating wide arcs away from her body. He did that a couple of times with her until it looked like she got it and then stood in front of her. He told her to keep doing that faster and faster several more times and then had her stop. He moved towards her arms out and said, "I'm an attacker trying to grab your throat."

She smiled enjoying her lesson so far. He showed her how to wrap her hands around the back of an opponent's neck, step into them while raising her right knee. He told her to hit them hard with her knee while pulling down on their neck. Katniss did it harder and harder until he told her to stop. Saint John then added a strike with her right elbow telling her to drive the elbow into her imaginary target's face with all her weight and strength behind it. Then finally he told her to step back with her right foot moving her body off to the side. He had her practice it a few times on him skipping the knee to the gut or groin and the elbow to his face or throat. He said, "There, you just avoided being hit by punches, kicks, broke my grip on you and took down someone trying to choke you out."

"That easy?"

"It can be. Let's move on to blocks," and he showed her how to block punches and kicks. He told her her small size can be an advantage. An attacker would have to come down to her to attack her and that will take them off balance. He then added the take down to the blocks and she tossed him to the ground a few times. Then he taught her how to get away from someone that tried to grab her from behind. He told her to just drop to the ground. Again her size and agility would get her free if she acted fast enough. He then had her grab her attacker's shirt, hair, whatever she could get her hands on when she dropped then using her legs she tossed him over her to the ground. The last time she rolled backwards, landing on top of him pinning his arms to the ground with her knees. He looked up and saw her crotch was a few inches from him face. She smiled and asked, "Ok, how do you get out of this?"

He smiled and replied, "I'm not sure I want to."

She frowned, apparently not understanding what he meant.

He laughed and asked, "You can't be this naïve, can you?"

Her frown became even deeper.

He shook his head and asked, "You're never heard of oral sex?"

She thought for a second, said, "Eww," and jumped off him.

He laughed. "Eww?, Don't knock until you've tried it Kitten?"

"Don't call me Kitten!" She started to walk away towards the door back to the apartment.

"Kat! Get back here."

She stopped but didn't turn around.

"Come on back, we're not done yet."

She slowly turned around and walked back scowling like usual.

"We're putting it all together." He had her get back into her stance and told her to avoid, escape and block everything he does. He began an endless series of attacks having her avoid, block or escape everything he tried to get her with. After a while they ended up again with her on top of him his shoulders pinned by her knees.

He smiled and asked, "Rethought the oral sex thing?"

She bent down placing her hands on either side of his head, a big smile on her face and said, "No, I want to know how you'd get out of this."

"Really?"

She nodded with a mischievous, playful smile on her face. A smile that reminded him of ones he'd seen on lovers before.

He smiled back. Faster than she could respond he moved his hands to her arms, knocked her elbows bending her arms causing her face to nearly hit his. He wrapped his right arm around the back of her neck pulling her momentarily off balance. He was able to get is left shoulder free enough to move his arm between her legs. He then both lifted her and rolled his body to the right ending up on top of her his face right in front of hers. He looked into her grey eyes and said softly, "Like that."

He felt his chest start to get a little tighter, his breathing became faster and his heart started pounding in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to kiss this young woman all over her body, get her clothes off and make love right there. The more he thought about it the more aroused he became. He slowly moved his face closer to hers. The look in her eyes told him she wanted the same thing at first. Then she looked scared and stared shaking all over. He got up quickly, said, "Sorry," and walked over to the other side of the garden.

Katniss said, "Don't be…"

He cut her off and said, "I shouldn't have done that. I scared you. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying anything except to teach you how to survive a fight."

Katniss walked over to him, touched his arm until he turned to face her and said, "Saint John, you didn't scare me." She paused for a second and continued, "Well, I was a little scared but not that you were going to hurt me. I was…." Her words trailed off like she wasn't sure what to say. After a few seconds she said, "You didn't do anything wrong."

He replied with more anger in his voice than he wanted, "You're still shaking."

"I'm shaking because it's getting cold."

He looked into her eyes. She looked sad and maybe a little guilty. He took off his coat, wrapped it around her arms and said, "It is getting a little cold up here." He motioned to a small white granite bench at the edge of the garden and said, "Let's sit and talk for a few minutes then we can go back down, get some tea and turn in."

She sat down next to him. He put his arm around her shoulders and they sat there quietly for a minute. He asked, "So, how do you know that Avox?"

She hesitated for a while but eventually told him the story. How her and Gale were hunting outside District 12 when they saw two people, a boy and a girl, running through the woods. Then a Capital hovercraft appeared, harpooned the boy, scooped up the girl, reeled then in and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

When she finished she became very quiet. He asked, "And you feel guilty because you didn't help them?"

She gave him a surprised look and after a second nodded.

"You couldn't help them. All that would have happened is the two of you would have been killed or worse."

"I know but still….I can remember her looking at me, her eyes begging me to help her and now she's here with her tongue cut out seeing to our every need."

He hugged her harder for several seconds. He then chuckled and said, "This place makes no sense."

She looked up at him and asked quietly, "Yeah, I mean why chase a couple of kids around while letting me and Gale hunt and you, well, smuggle stuff."

He laughed quietly. "That's not what I mean."

She looked at him questioningly.

"Well, that doesn't make any sense either but why kill a kid with a harpoon? Why use a claw to bring in the girl? The Capital's aircraft have force fields, anti-gravity propulsion, stealth technology and Electro-plasma weapons. They could have vaporized both of them in less than a second so why use a harpoon? It's like they're reluctant to use their weapons for some reason."

Katniss' questioning look became incredulous. She asked slowly, "How do you know so much about hovercraft?"

He looked at her smiling and replied, "That would take a long time to explain and you wouldn't believe me anyway." He could tell she didn't want to leave it at that. He quickly changed the subject and said, "Ok, tonight I taught you how to keep from getting hurt if you're attacked. You noticed most of it was how to get out of a situation. If you're attacked at close range I want you to get away anyway you can and run like hell. You fight at a distance and leave the up close and personal stuff to me; ok?"

She nodded.

She smiled again. "Good, tomorrow I we'll review all this and I'll teach you how to kill a human being. Right now let's go back down stairs and get warm. I can give you your first lesson in the Art of War while we drink some tea."

The male servant brought them two small white china cups filled with Chamomile tea and milk. They sat at the dining room table and discussed his first lesson in warfare; intelligence. He told her whole wars have been won and lost because of information or lack thereof about the enemy. Katniss told him the tribute training was secret so she didn't know how it was done. They decided to play it by ear, so to speak. It was decided that they should be watching the other tributes as much as possible picking up on their favorite weapons, weapons they weren't so good with and any survival skills they demonstrate. While they were at it they should learn as much survival techniques as they could because both of them can use a refresher course and it might give them an idea of what the arena was going to be this year. That was the gathering information or intelligence part.

At the same time they should avoid the weapons there good with which meant if it can be helped, Katniss should avoid archery and he should stay away from hand to hand and knife combat. If they couldn't avoid them than they should make themselves look incompetent with them. That was the dis-information part. They would pick a different weapon that they could appear to be good with, like knife throwing for Katniss and spears for Saint John and make the others think that was the best they could do. They would show the world their true skills in the arena. It was important that they both came up with as much of their plans as possible. He wanted her to learn everything she could just in case something happened to him early on. The best way to learn is to include them in what's going on. They decided that she would keep an eye on the girls and he'd watch the boys as much as possible. Keep track of their strengths and weaknesses and compare notes when they met back up. If for some reason it wasn't possible to watch the other tributes they'd attempt to go with psychological profile. He gave her a fast course in how to read people through their looks and body language. He hoped it wouldn't come to that but in the end he didn't think it would matter much. He still believed he was far better at waging war than anyone else on this rock. When they finished their tea he had one more thing he wanted to talk about. He looked her in the eye and asked, "Who are you?"

She looked at him like he was in idiot. He continued to stare in her eyes waiting for an answer. Finally she said, "You know who I am."

"Yes I know who you are but do you know who you are?"

She looked down at her feet annoyed by this game he was playing. She said, "I'm Katniss Everdeen, your friend from District 12…."

He asked, "Do you remember what I told you to do on the train every night before you go to bed and in the morning when you get up?"

She stared at him for a second and then repeated the speech he gave her about telling herself she was going to win.

Saint John stood up and said in an annoyed voice, "You need to do that every night and day until you believe it. I can teach you how to defend yourself and you can kill very effectively with a bow and arrow and could probably survive off the land better than anyone else here but if you don't believe you can win you I may not be able to save you." He took her hand and helped her to her feet. He placed his arms on her shoulders and said, "Declare victory in your mind, in your heart and in your soul and the body will make it happen. Convince yourself that the others are not people anymore but just targets that need to be destroyed or you will hesitate when the time comes to kill them and you will be dead."

Katniss nodded without looking at him. He walked her to her room. Outside her door she looked up at him with the same eyes she had after the Tribute Parade and said, "Saint John…"

He placed his arms on her shoulders again and said, "I know Kat, you don't have to say it."

She looked at him questioningly and asked, "You said that…well… we need to tell people things before it's too late?"

"Not when the other already knows and saying it might make things worse." He hugged her and said, "Go get some sleep Kitten, see you in the morning."

She kissed his cheek, replied, "Don't call me Kitten," and went into her bedroom.

Saint John's awoke from his dream with a start. The sun was just starting to peak out from the shades over his window. He lyed there thinking about his dreams. They came fast but he could remember them all. He was standing in a dark bar with Cinna. Only Cinna was missing his gold eyeliner and he wore a tan uniform. Everyone in the room, including himself were wearing the same tan uniform. They all had a gold diving, flaming bird, just like his tattoo over the right breast. The dark skinned Cinna look alike had a number under the pin, 12J4531C. His left breast had silver wings with red cross hairs on the center and the word, "Snake," under it. His right arm and the letter C and the number 37 in white over a round field of dark blue. His own uniform was nearly identical except the number under the pin was 12J3423C and the word was, "Saint." The only other difference in his uniform was a pair of gold diamonds pinned to his collar. He knew that's who he really was. It was his number and the others like him called him "Saint," most of the time. The Cinna look alike, who really didn't look that much like Cinna except for the color of his skin and hair style, was his closest friend. A friend he didn't remember that much about. There were others dreams about him. Not in uniform but in a dark jacket, pants and shirt. He had longer hair and a beard. He was also not as fit like he'd spent a little too much time living the good life.

Another dream he was standing in a field watching everything around him burn. The smoke was choking him and he swore he could feel his heart stopping. The last dream he could remember was a young red headed woman wearing dark blue jeans and a light blue shirt climbing down a steep metal ladder. The young woman had both fear and longing in her dark blue eyes. He shook his head trying to get rid of the disturbing imagines and got up. He dressed in the same dark clothes and running shoes he wore last night and went back up to the roof. He stretched out for a few minutes and began running as fast as he could around the roof. After an hour of running and calisthenics he returned to his room feeling more like himself. He showered and found a suit of black pants, burgundy shirt and leather shoes sitting on his bed. He dressed and met Haymitch while he was going into the dining room. Katniss was already there, two empty plates and cup of hot chocolate in front of her. Saint John piled on scrambled eggs, sausage links and hash browns on a plate, poured a cup of coffee mixed with the French Vanilla crème the servants provided just for him and took a seat next to Katniss. He said in his best lover's voice just to be extra irritating, "Morning Kitten."

She replied, "Don't call me Kitten," and continued to dunk pieces of roll into her hot chocolate before eating them.

He noticed the hint of a smile on her face when she said that. He chuckled and began eating. He finished that plate and another and was on his third cup of coffee when Haymitch pushed his plate away took a swig from his flask and said, "Alright, down to business. Training. First off, I'll coach you separately if you want. Decide now."

Katniss and Saint John looked at each other for a second. Neither of them had even considered training separately. Besides, he was training her how to fight and wondered what Haymitch could possibly teach her he couldn't.

Katniss asked, "Why would you coach us separately?"

He replied, "Say you have a skill you don't want the other to know about."

Saint John looked at Katniss and started laughing. He said, "Well, I think by now everyone at this table knows my skills and Katniss is the best archer I've ever seen."

Haymitch snorted and replied, "That might mean something if I knew where you came from."

Saint John took a sip of coffee and said casually, "I'm from District 12 just like you."

The old man snorted again and said, "Yeah right." He looked over at Katniss and asked, "You as good with a bow as you are with a knife?"

"I'm alright I guess."

Saint John nudged her arm with his and said, "Yeah, alright. She can shoot a bird out of the air and hit a running squirrel in the eye. She can move through the woods without making a sound, set snares and knows exactly what plants are edible and what ones are deadly."

He could feel her scowl on the side of his neck. He looked at her smiling and said, "I'm not a bad hunter either but I'm better at catching fish." He looked back at their mentor and said, "Both of us are pretty good at living off the forest."

Haymitch replied, "No guarantee the arena's going to be a forest or even if it is that anything in it is edible. They may not even have a bow to use. But there will be during the training so stay away from it until your private session with the Gamemakers." He looked over at Saint John and asked, "Are you as good with a knife as you are with your hands?"

"I'm better with a blade."

Haymitch stared at him almost in disbelief. Finally he said, "Fine you stay away from everything then. Learn how to build a shelter or a fire or a trip wire or something. Anything other than combat, wait until the private session to tear a dummy's head off with your teeth or whatever."

They nodded. That's what they agreed to last night.

Haymitch said, "One last thing. In public I want you by each other's side every minute."

Saint John looked at Katniss and thought it wasn't a good idea. They could gather more information separately then together and it might tip off the others that they intended on working as a team during the game. Katniss must have thought the same thing because she started to object.

Haymitch slammed his hand on the table and yelled, "Every minute! It's not open for discussion! You agreed to do as I said! You will be together, you will appear amiable to each other. Now get out. Meet Effie at the elevator at ten for training."

Saint John stared at the old mentor angrily. It was the second time in as many days he'd just dismissed him and it was starting to annoy him. Saint John stood up, walked over and poured himself another cup of coffee. As he stirred the coffee and crème with a silver spoon he said, "Abernathy, you're either a genius or an idiot. If it's the former, I'll shake your hand. If it's the latter and I live though this, the last thing you'll see is your throat in my hands." He smiled at Katniss and said, "I'm drinking my coffee on the balcony and taking in the view. Meet you at ten Kitten."

That time when she said, "Don't call me Kitten, " she scowled and stormed out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

He sat down in a chair, sipped his coffee and looked out over the city. He could hear the vehicles on the streets below. He began to wonder how the people lived, what they did every day, was it like other cities he'd been to. He wanted to leave the building and explore but that would be impossible. Even though it was a very comfortable jail he was still a prisoner here. A prisoner being remade into what they wanted him to be. Trying to take who he was. They even took the small gold colored charm he'd worn around his neck attached to a simple black cord. A simple metal Nordic cross given to him years ago by someone very special. Or at least he thought she was very special. They told him it would be tested and if it wasn't declared a weapon he'd get it back before the games began. He relieved himself of all the processed coffee he drank and met Katniss and Effie at the elevator for the ride to the training room. The training room reminded him of a high school gymnasium from hell. The center had climbing set ups with ropes, simulated trees and rock walls. The other stations surrounded the climbing set ups. There were places you could learn everything from what to eat to building shelter to camouflage. And then there were the weapons, lots of weapons. Just about every primitive weapon ever created by humans. The most advanced was archery, a simple recurve bow. You could learn pretty much anything here but with only two and a half days you couldn't really master anything.

Saint John noticed Katniss was staring at the silver bow longingly. He nudged her shoulder and said, "Remember the plan. Stay away from that bow."

"Just looking at it." She looked up at him and asked, "You think Haymitch's right about us staying together? I mean none of the others are dressed identical."

He looked around the room and realized they were the only ones wearing the exact same workout clothes. He laughed. "Don't know. So far he was right about the stylists but the whole staying together thing could back fire since we plan on working as a team in the arena. And it's going to make our finding out about the competition more difficult."

"So, we should ignore it?"

He smiled and replied, "Well, since I've already threatened him if this doesn't work. I guess I should go through with it. Besides he might be right."

One of the trainers placed a sign with the number 12 on his back while a young attractive black woman told them the rules. The stations were set up with instructors to teach them everything at that station. The tributes were free to go from station to station and learn as much as they could in the next three days. She reminded them not to underestimate the survival skills and that most of them would die from hunger, thirst or exposure as opposed to combat. The only real rule was tributes were not allowed to touch each other. An instructor would act as a partner if they wanted to practice a particular combat technique. When the head instructor dismissed them to begin their training he touched Katniss' arm to get her attention and said as the others began heading for a station, "I don't like the way this is set up." He looked at her and continued, "Let's try keeping track of the stations instead. You're the expert in survival so you watch them and I'll keep track of the combat stations."

She nodded and asked, "Where should we start?"

Saint John looked around the room. The tributes from Districts one, two and four made a beeline for the weapon stations while the others looked around like lost puppies. The boy from District two noticed Saint John was watching him and started to stare back. Their eyes locked for several seconds before Saint John looked away. That boy had killed before, he could see it in Cato's eyes. The girl from his District also looked at him. She had a similar look, she'd taken a life before as well. He didn't want to worry Katniss so he looked over at the closest station and said, "Let's start here." Knot tying.

The instructor seemed happy to have someone at his station and became almost excited when he realized Katniss already knew how to tie a snare. They alternated practicing tying different knots, even how to create a trap that could send a person that fell into it up a tree, and watching the other tributes for skills and weaknesses. After an hour they moved on to camouflage. Saint John wanted to practice that station, even though he'd been trained in camouflage techniques it was never something he'd ever needed to do before. They spent a couple hours there painting each other until they could passably blend into the back ground.

Lunch was served in a cafeteria, which again reminded Saint John of high school, with all the other tributes. The boys and girls from Districts one, two and four, what Katniss called Career Tributes or Careers all sat together like the popular kids. Saint John and Katniss sat together eating and comparing notes. The one Katniss called Foxface, a kind of cute redhead from District five, seemed to be very good with the plants and building shelters. Saint John told her the boys from Districts one and two were very good with blades but Cato was dangerous with a sword. The boy from one appeared to favor a spear. Every now and then he'd tell a joke to lighten the mood. At one time he started juggling the bread from the basket. Everyone in the room watched as he tossed as many as four rolls around in a circle. Then he'd toss them at Katniss trying to get her to catch them in her mouth. It was a fun diversion and might have done more to make them seem partners than just hanging around each other.

After lunch Katniss suggested they try climbing so they could get a better view of the training room without anyone seeing them. Saint John was impressed with her tactical mind; she was really beginning to understand combat and warfare. They climbed to the top of the gym, watch all the other tributes play with swords, build fires and toss spears around for a while. Then climb back down and climb from a different station. He noticed the small, dark skinned girl from District 11 had also climbed up to the ceiling and was watching both them and the others. Her presence in the game made him sad and angry. She was way too young and small to be forced to fight like that. They ended the day by playing around with more snares and weaving hammocks. By the end they had a pretty good idea of the careers strengths, they hoped tomorrow they would find the weaknesses.

That night after another tense dinner with Effie and Haymitch they went up to the roof and Saint John conducted his own training class. He covered anatomy and showed her the most vulnerable places on the human body. He showed her the best places to hit a human to kill them both with a blade and an arrow. They practiced her evasion and defense skills he taught her the night before and moved on to focused strikes. He showed her how throw a proper elbow strike against someone's throat or chest. Then moved on to how to sweep a person's legs out from under them and how to wreak a knee. After she mastered the strikes they went down stairs for their evening tea. He talked about not getting forced into fighting her enemies fight but making them fight hers. He told her setting up an ambush was just like hunting, you pick a good spot and wait for them to come to her. Use your opponents' weaknesses against them. When he was done they went over their notes on the other tributes and decided tomorrow to hit the rest of the survival stations and take a turn at a few of the weapons. Just before they broke up for the night he asked, "Who are you?"

She replied in a somewhat weak voice, "I'm Katniss Everdeen the victor of the 74th Hunger Games."

Saint John shook his head and replied, "You don't believe that do you?"

She looked down and shook her head as well.

"You need to believe it. Katniss, I've seen you with fire and determination. You were the girl on fire long before Cinna made the costume. You need to focus that same fire into this. The same fire that gets your family what it needs to stay alive is the only thing that will make sure you get back to them. They need you. Gale needs you."

She looked up at him sadly and asked, "What about you? Isn't there anyone that needs you besides me?"

He tried to put on a comforting front but inside he felt the tears swelling in his eyes. There were people that needed him once. People that he believed he failed. He wasn't going to fail this time. He wasn't going to fail this person. He said, "Kat, no one needs me. Not you, not anyone. You could do this without me. You could win this without anyone. The problem is you don't believe you can win this. You have to convince yourself you can win and you have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to win." He took her hand in his, touched her chin and turned her head so she could look in his eyes. He said, "Killing people is a difficult thing to do. It takes a part of you every time you do it. To survive this it has to be automatic, fast and brutal. I'm not saying you have to hunt everyone down and kill them all but chances are you will have to take one or more of them out." He kissed her cheek and asked, "Do you understand?"

Katniss touched her cheek where he kissed her and nodded.

Saint John stood up, turned away from her and said, "Tomorrow night I'll show you how to kill someone with a knife. Good night Kitten."

This time all he heard was a sad, "Good night Saint John," as she went to her room.

The second day was more of the same. After a more or less restful sleep and a morning workout on the roof he had breakfast with Katniss, Haymitch and Effie, who was still drilling them about training. Saint John gave some vague answers and assured them they were following the plan. Katniss didn't say anything annoying both Effie and Haymitch. Even his usual, "Morning Kitten," didn't get a response from her. She ate her food, drank her hot chocolate and tried not to look at Saint John. When they arrived at the training center he started by asking her to run with him around the track. As they jogged, attracting everyone's attention he asked, "What's up Kat?"

She didn't say anything which prompted a, "Something wrong Kitten?"

She answered him by running faster. As she pulled away from him Saint John thought, really, and ran after her. When he caught up with her he said, "Kat, we don't have time for you to do the moody teenager act. So just tell me what's wrong and we can get back to the business of keeping you alive."

She stopped suddenly making Saint John have to turn around and jog back to her. She asked in an angry whisper, "What gives you the right to decide whether I get to live or not?"

He frowned at her. "I'm not deciding whether you live or not. In the end that's up to you. I'm trying to help you survive this." He took her arm and directed her to a group of pads by the climbing station. He had her sit down and asked, "You don't want to live? What you plan of just standing there and let Cato or the others kill you?"

She sits there for a few seconds and replies quietly, "I'm just tired of everyone making decisions for me." She looked up at Saint John with sad eyes and said, "You're wrong."

He frowned at her wondering what she meant by him being wrong. He saw a tear come down her cheek as she said, "I need you. Gale needs you and I'm guessing there's lot of people in District 12 that are alive because of you."

Shit, she would pick now to figure it out, he thought. Katniss was smart, it was only a matter of time before she realized he'd been smuggling medicine in for sick children. He looked around the room and noticed Cato and the other careers were watching them. He whispered to her, "We're being watched. Act like you have something in your eye."

She wiped her eye angrily, like she was frustrated about something. He nodded and said, "Good, maybe they'll buy that." They both looked around and saw the careers appeared amused by the drama that was playing out near them. The Gamemakers were also watching them intently. He tried to look unconcerned, like he really didn't want to be stuck with her. He asked, "Look, do you want to leave your mom and Prim and Gale alone without you?"

She shook her head.

Saint John looked up and said, "That's the choice you have to make. You volunteered to keep your sister safe. I volunteered to keep you alive. Those were decisions we made and we have to deal with the consequences of those decisions. I know if you asked anyone in 12 whether they wanted you to come back or me they'd choose you." He looked down and asked, "So what're doing? Are you going to fight to get back to them or are you just going to give up die?" He said, "Because either way I'm already dead." She looked at him puzzled. He nodded towards the other tributes and said, "To kill you they'll have to go through me. I'll live longer if you'll fight with me. If you make it home my death won't be in vain."

She stood up, said, "You want to die, who am I to stop you," and walked away.

Saint John sat there for a second, then got up and followed her a new plan forming in his head. As he walked past Cato he said, "I'm going to fucking kill Haymitch for this," without looking back. He smirked as he joined his fellow tribute.

They practiced building fires without matches. He also remembered from his initial survival training how to build a fire bundle that allowed you to carry glowing embers around without burning up. He also showed her how to defuse the smoke from the bundle so they couldn't tracked by it. They moved on to shelter building and finally tested themselves on edible plants again. It became apparent that their training was preparing them for a forest environment. Unless this whole thing was pure deception.

During lunch they continued comparing notes on the other tributes. Thresh, the boy from 11, didn't seem interested in practicing anything so he would be an unknown factor. The girl from one, named Glimmer, seemed competent with a bow but didn't really demonstrate much else. The boy from one was a loud mouth jerk that reminded him of a brainless jock; he wouldn't last that long. The girl from two, Clove, was a master knife thrower but it was the look in her eyes that gave Saint John pause. She had the coldest, iciest look he'd ever seen on anyone. She was ruthless, pitiless and absolutely deadly; easily the most dangerous person in the game. He would need to take her out as quickly as possible. The boy from her district was almost as cold looking and appeared to be the Career's leader. The two from four seemed to be moderately skilled with most weapons but not excellent with any of them. The rest of the field didn't appear to be any kind of threat; they were simply cattle awaiting slaughter. He worked out the details in his new plan deciding it not only would be more effective in the long run but a lot more fun.

After lunch they moved over to weapon's training. Katniss leaned a little more about basic hand to hand while Saint John made himself appear to be barely able to hold his own. She practiced throwing knives and showed she could stick a knife in a target fairly accurately. Saint John allowed himself to appear to be competent with a knife. While they were practicing spear throwing he noticed the same small girl from 11 watching them again. He tapped Katniss on the shoulder and told her they had a shadow. She looked back, scowled but said nothing. After nearly a half an hour Katniss was fairly accurate with a spear if the target was about ten yards or less away. Saint John could throw a lot farther but would have trouble hitting a mountain with one. He laughed and said, "You know Kat, between the two of us we'd make one hell of a spear chucker."

She closed her eyes trying to keep from laughing and failed. She laughed, slapped him in the arm and said, "Sorry."

Saint John smiled back and noticed the young dark skinned girl was grinning at them.

He asked to her, "You think you can do any better?"

The little girl ducked behind a pillar. Katniss looked at him and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Not sure. When I figure it out I'll let you know" He walked over to the pillar and said, "If you're going to follow us around you might as well join us."

She looked around the corner of the staff at him. He smiled, held out his hand and said, "I'm Saint John."

She looked at his hand for several seconds like she was trying to decide whether his introduction was genuine or some kind of trick.

"You know I can't hurt you during training. I'm just being friendly."

She took his hand in her small one and said in a very quiet voice, "Rue."

He shook her hand and motioned for her to join them. She followed him to the spear throwing station. He introduced Katniss to her. This time the young Rue smiled and held out her hand. Katniss scowled but took the young girls hand. Rue spent the rest of the afternoon following them to the weapon's stations. They found she was incredibly accurate with a sling. Katniss wasn't impressed but Saint John knew any weapon that could reach out and hit you at a distance was dangerous. A rock shot from a sling upside your head could ruin your whole day. Katniss's notes on her stated Rue knew what plants to eat and could climb with great skill. Saint John thought this could be a problem. Despite her skill with a sling the girl wasn't much of a threat in a fight but she could survive and hide. That might mean they'd have to hunt her down to end the game, not a good concept. Training ended for the day and everyone left for their rooms.

He returned to his room, took a shower and dressed for dinner. He stood out on the balcony with his usual glass of whiskey watching the sun finish setting. Haymitch walked out and stood next him, his own drink in his hand. After a few minutes of silence he asked, "So, how's the training going? Are you two doing what I told you?"

"Yes dad, we've been good little children." He looked at his mentor and said, "I got something I'd like to run past you," and he explained what he was thinking.

Haymitch stared at him and asked, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah I'm serious. Katniss pulled a bratty teenage girl this morning and it gave me a chance to sow the seeds of it. Can you do it?"

Haymitch rubbed his chin for a few seconds and thought. He said, "Maybe, it's a little late in the game but if the Gamemakers give you a high enough score it might work."

"Don't worry about that. I'll get their attention if I have to collapse the building on their heads." Saint John finished his drink and said, "Don't tell Kat, don't think she'd take it well and I need her to trust me."

Haymitch grinned at Saint John and asked, "Having second thoughts about her?"

"No, the plan's the same, I'm just changing the details a bit. One more thing, I might have an ally for her as well." He told her who.

Haymitch scowled and replied, "Now I know you're joking."

Saint John just stared at him.

Haymitch said, "No, no, hell no," finished his drink and went back into the dining room.

Saint John grinned, he didn't think the old drunk would take that well. He might be right. Katniss might be better off alone. It was bad enough she was bonding to him. She didn't need to start caring for someone else. Effie announced dinner was ready and he went in to eat.

Dinner came and went without any major conflicts. There was a little quiet chatter about training and that tomorrow morning they would talk about what they were going to do for the Gamemakers. Saint John palmed a butter knife as a prop for the nights training and met Katniss on the roof. He started by showing her how to disarm someone with a knife. He had her hold it in her right hand with the blade out. He then quickly raised his hands, slapping both the back of her right wrist and the blade at the same time. She lost her grip on the weapon, he caught it and quickly brought it to her throat. Her look went from surprise to a smile as she told him to show her how he did that. They practiced that several times along with a few other disarming techniques. He then showed her how to properly cut a man's throat, where in the chest to stab someone to ensure it hits the heart, the brain stem in the back of the head and how to cut open major arties like the ones in the back and inside the thigh. The told her that when she stabs to twist the blade before pulling it out to make the wound larger. They ended the night with another complete review of all the techniques he'd taught her over the last three days. Back in the apartment they had their usual tea and spent more time talking about waging war. She still couldn't answer his question about who she was with anything resembling confidence. He just shook his head and told her to get some sleep.

The next morning he ran on the roof, showered dressed and ate before Katniss was even out of her room. During breakfast Haymitch asked him what he planned on doing for the Gamemakers. He told him he wasn't sure yet but it would get their attention. He met Katniss and Effie on the elevator and went to the final day of training. They spent the morning going over more of the weapons, trying not to show any real skill with them. Rue joined them again only this time Thresh was also watching from the background. He picked up a spear and showed the girls how to use a staff. He tossed one to a trainer and they each took turns hitting and blocking with the spear. The trainer appeared to be impressed as were many of the other tributes and the Gamemakers. Saint John wondered why no one had ever thought of using a staff in this thing. The morning ended and everyone went to lunch.

After lunch all the tributes sat on a long bench waiting to be called. Saint John being the boy from 12 sat between both Rue and Katniss, who would be last. The icy coldness that ended their private training last night was still present between them. When they called Rue she got up and started heading into the gym. As she left Saint John felt he had to say something to his new friend.

"Rue."

The girl turned around.

"Show them what you can do. Impress them and have fun. Remember, only the dead are without hope and you're very much alive right now."

The girl smiled at him and continued to the training room.

Katniss looked at him and asked, "Why did you do that?"

"She looked like she needed it."

She shook her head and said, "It's not a good idea to make friends. We may have to kill her later."

Saint John looked at her and said, "If it comes to that I'll do her." He looked back down the hallway to the training room and said, "I'll make it quick, she won't feel a thing."

"That easy huh?"

Saint John shook his head and replied, "No, I think killing someone that young will be the hardest thing I've ever done. Besides chances are one of the Careers, as you call them, will probably take her before I'll have to." He turned to face Katniss, looked her in the eye and asked, "Are we still friends and partners?"

She looked away and said, "Saint John, if I don't make it back promise me you'll take care of Prim and my mom and help Gale feed them and his family."

"You don't believe I'll sacrifice myself for you do you?"

She shook her head.

Saint John put his arm around her shoulders and said, "They don't need someone to take care of them, they need you. You're not going to die, I won't let it happen."

She looked up at him like she wanted to say something when an electronic female voice called his name.

Saint John stood up and said, "Show time." He looked back and said, "Shoot straight Kitten, impress them, hell scare them. Remember what I told Rue, only the dead are without hope and we're both very much alive."

"What are you going to do to impress them?"

Saint John smiled and replied, "I'm going to do what I've wanted to do since I got here; play and have fun."

He walked into the gymnasium. The training room was set up the way it had been for the last three days. All the weapons were neatly stacked on their racks. Several targets, dummies, human silhouettes and bulls eyes were set up at varying ranges. A large punching bag hung at the center by the rope climbing station. Saint John studied the set up for a few seconds wondering how best to impress the Gamemakers. He looked up at them and noticed they all appeared to be drunk and singing really badly. Great, this is going to be fun, he thought. He looked at the climbing wall, the target dummies and smiled. He closed his eyes and thought about all the twisted, horrors his mind could conjure. He could feel his muscles swell and his nerves quicken. His sense became sharper and clearer, he could hear everything the Gamemakers were saying and could even smell the wine they were drinking. His mind became clear and focused on what he had to do. But carefully, he thought. He wanted to look extraordinary not superhuman. He walked over to the weapons rack, picked out three small throwing hatchets and tucked them into his belt. He then picked up two throwing knives and tucked them into the top of his boots. When he felt he was ready he walked over to the wall and climbed to the top. Twenty feet in the air he stood on top of the ledge at the same level as the Gamemakers, smiled at them and started juggling the three hatchets. He stood there balanced on the top of the wall juggling, waiting for all the so called game officials to look at him. It took a few minutes before all of them had stopped drinking and looked his way curiously. He could hear them asking each other, "What the hell is he doing?"

Saint John tossed one of the hatchets a little higher, grabbed one in his right hand and threw it. The blade stuck itself in the chest of the dummy on the right some fifty feet away. He juggled the last two for a couple more seconds and threw another one aiming at the target on the left. He missed it completely. The small axe hit the ground with a clang and a couple of sparks. Saint John held the last hatchet in his left hand and jumped off the wall. He grabbed a hanging rope six feet away, used the blade to cut the rope and swung towards the target range. He gave a Tarzan yell as he flew at the middle dummy. He cut its head off with the hatchet, pulled up on the rope, let go and did a flip before landing on his feet. He walked behind the center dummy, buried his last hatchet in the top of its decapitated body. He then pulled the knives out of his boots, one in each hand and threw them at the backs of the dummies heads. Again he hit the one on the right but the one on the left hit handle first and fell to the ground. Damn it, he thought, well, I never could throw with my left arm anyway. Then just for good measure he spun around and kicked the center one so hard it flew from its stand and slammed into the far wall nearly thirty feet away. He looked up at his audience; a few didn't seem that impressed and went back to drinking. He nodded at them. He thought about tearing the punching bag apart with his bare hands but thought that might be a little much. Instead he grabbed two small swords and cut the limbs off both the remaining dummies. He juggled the swords until one of the Gamemakers dismissed him. He saluted them with the sword in his right hand and threw them both into the wall under their balcony.

Saint John contained his laughter until he got to the elevator. Then he started laughing all the tension that had been building over the last few days out. That felt great, he thought as he arrived at the penthouse level. He went straight to his room, stripped down and took a shower. He started feeling very tired as his body came down from its artificial rush. Once the game started for real he'd have to be a bit more careful. He couldn't afford to crash like this after every fight. He let the hot stream relax him as he slowed his breathing and lowered his heart rate. After a few minutes he felt a little fatigued but pretty much himself. He was hungry for the first time in days and looked forward to dinner for a change. He dressed in comfortable clothes, went into the sitting room for a drink. He sat nursing a whiskey with ice and watched more replays of the reaping and tribute parade. He wondered if they ever showed anything but propaganda and Hunger Game crap. He felt proud of himself despite losing some of their interest. He thought he did well without giving away what he could really do. He'd find out what the organizers of this nightmare thought soon enough. He finished his drink, set the glass on the table and started to drift off. He was awakened by a door being slammed. He looked towards the hallway where his and Katniss' bedrooms were and thought, guessing hers didn't go as well as mine. He was about to get up when he saw Effie head down the hallway. He could hear her knocking on a door and a muffled order for her to go away. Then Haymitch tried and received the same result. Both of them came into the sitting room and looked at him. He chuckled and said, "Girls. Everything's the end of the world with them."

He looked at the Avox girl standing in the corner, smiled and asked her to bring some strawberries and melted chocolate. She returned with a sliver tray with large red berries surrounding a small silver pot. He thanked her, took the tray and headed for the hallway.

Haymitch asked, "What the hell are you going to do with that?"

Saint John shook his head and replied, "You really need to get out more and learn about girls. Chocolate, the way to a girl's soul."

He knocked on her door and said, "Kat, let me in."

"Go away!"

He continued knocking and said, "I'm not going away so you might as well let me in." He kept knocking for several minutes until a very angry looking Katniss finally opened the door. He pushed his way past her, sat on the bed and looked at her. She scowled at him from her doorway obviously wanting him to leave. He held up the tray and asked, "Chocolate covered strawberries; want some?"

When she just stood there scowling he shrugged and said, "More for me." He took a strawberry, dipped it in the molten candy and bit into it. He said, "MMM," even though he really didn't like strawberries. He ate three of them before she sat down and had one.

He looked at her and asked, "So what happened?"

She finished eating her berry and looked at him with tears in her eyes. He set the tray behind him and she threw her arms around his neck and started crying. He held her for several minutes letting her cry it out of her system. When the stem of tears had stopped he asked her what happened. She told him the Gamemakers weren't paying any attention to her even though her shooting was superb until she shot at them.

He looked at her with shock on his face and said, "Holy shit, Kat, I told you to scare them but damn."

She explained she wasn't shooting at them but at the apple in the pig's mouth they were so interested in. He chuckled which made her even more upset. She said, "It's not funny. They're going to execute me or worse, take it out on my family."

Saint John scowled at her and asked, "What makes you think that?"

"I embarrassed them, humiliated them. They're going to punish me for it. Maybe my family."

Saint John considered that for a second and said, "I don't think so."

"Why?"

"They'd have to explain what happened to the tributes from District 12, the boy and girl that were on fire during the parade. The whole county would demand answers."

She looked at him and asked, "Why the boy and girl? Why would they punish you for what I did?"

He hugged her and said, "I made you a promise. It doesn't matter whether it's in the arena or out here. Anyone wants to hurt you they have to go through me."

The shocked look on her face made him laugh again. Her looked went back to her usual scowl and she asked, "You'd fight the Peace Keepers knowing there's no way we could win?"

"Who says we couldn't win? I'd kill them, take their weapons and we'd fight our way out of the city or die trying." He looked her in the eye and said with determination, "They'd have to break us before we give up. They'd have to kill us before we die. We haven't been broken and we're very much alive."

She smiled and hugged him tightly for a long time. He hugged her back as tightly as he dared enjoying the closeness and dreading the fact that it would end soon. There was a gentle tapping on the open door. Effie was standing there smiling and then suddenly sad. She told them dinner was ready. He nodded, took Katniss' right hand and help her to her feet. She walked ahead of him to the dining room. As he followed her he thought, let them come, this is as good a place to plan B it as anywhere.

Sometime while they were talking Cinna and Portia had arrived to share dinner with them. Saint John was a little surprised to see them and then realized of course they'd be here for the Gamemaker's scores. He hoped his talk helped but Katniss looked just as depressed as she did in her room. The soup was some kind of salty disgusting fish brew that he hated. He noticed Katniss either didn't like it as well or she was still too upset to eat. The others started talking about the weather and other minor subjects staying away from the main topic that had to be on everyone of their minds. When the main course arrived Haymitch said, "Alright, enough small talk, just how bad were you?"

He looked at Katnisst and smirked. She just sat there staring at her plate. He knew their mentor was asking her, since she stormed to her room and slammed the door, but figured Haymitch would ask him eventually so he might as well go first. He casually described his demonstration of abilities, leaving out his misses with the axe and knife, and then started eating his dinner. He thought the pork chops were a lot better than the soup. He looked up and noticed the others were staring at him.

Haymitch asked, "And just what the hell did you think you were doing; auditioning for a circus?"

Saint John scowled at him and said, "They were drunk off their asses. I had to get their attention some how."

Haymitch pounded on the table. "You get their attention by showing you will survive the damn arena."

"You told me to save what I could do until the private session. I did. I showed them balance, agility, fighting skills not to mention one hell of an accurate throwing arm."

Haymitch looked down and asked, "When are you going to take this seriously?"

Saint John wanted to show him just how serious he could be by breaking all of Haymtich's limbs one at a time. Then he noticed a glint of amusement in his eyes. He wondered if this was some way of deflecting some of Katniss' distress. Was he trying to make her feel better by making him look bad. Saint John could play the same game. He smiled and asked, "I thought this was a game? Aren't you supposed to have fun in a game?"

He looked over at Portia and winked. She smiled back at him and nodded. Despite Haymitch her, Effie and Cinna all seemed pleased with his attempt to gain the Gamemaker's favor. He looked across the table at Katniss and noticed she appeared even more depressed than before. He figured she was thinking if Haymitch was pissed at him for climbing and juggling what would he say to her shooting at the Gamemakers. He suddenly felt a need to be a little mean. Besides that might just release some of the tension in the room. He said as he cut off another chunk of pork chop, "Maybe your right." He pointed across the table with his meat laden fork and said, "She had no trouble getting their attention." Katniss looked up at him with the meanest scowl he'd ever seen on her young face. She ducked slightly in her chair and he felt a sharp pain in his right shin. He yelled, "Ow!," and kicked her back. She looked surprised that he actually kicked her. They started trying to kick each other under the table. Saint John and Katniss laughed like a couple of kids with an occasional ow. That was one of the reasons he loved her. Her and Gale were the only people that could bring the child in him out. Cinna and Portia were trying to keep their glasses from falling as the table bounced around. Effie held her plate down telling them in a stern voice that was not how young men and women acted at the dinner table. Haymitch put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. He just sat there until the table jumped up so violently that his elbows flew up along with his head and landed back on the table with a loud thump.

Haymitch had enough and yelled, "Knock it off!" After the table stopped bouncing around he shook his head and said, "I've mentored twelve year olds that acted better than you too." He looked at Katniss and said, "Alright sweetheart, what happened?"

Katniss glared at him apparently she liked being called sweetheart less than being called Kitten. "I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers."

Effie asked with horror in her voice, "You what?"

As if the kick fight was bad enough. Now everyone was staring at her except Saint John, he continued eating the pork chops. They were very good, especially if dipped in his mashed potatoes.

Katniss continued, "I shot an arrow at them. Not exactly at them. In their direction. It's like Saint John said, I was shooting and they were ignoring me and I just…I just lost my head so I shot an apple out of their stupid roast pig's mouth!"

Cinna asked slowly, "And what did they say?"

"Nothing. Or I don't know. I walked out after that."

Effie gasped, "Without being dismissed?"

Saint John laughed quietly. Leave it to Effie Trinket to find not being properly dismissed to be more of an offence than scaring the shit out of someone.

Katniss replied, "I dismissed myself," in a somewhat dejected tone.

Saint John thought, Great, everything I did including eating strawberries which I hate and this lot ruins it in less than a minute.

Haymitch said, "Well, that's that," as he buttered a roll.

Katniss asked the same question about her being arrested or her family being punished she asked Saint John. Haymitch gave a better explanation about it being too difficult to replace her now and since the tribute training is secret there would be no point in taking it out on her family. He said, "More likely they'll make your life hell in the arena."

Saint John said around a mouthful of food, "They're going to do that anyway."

Haymitch replied, "True," and ripped a piece of pork chop with his fingers and dunks it in his wine.

Saint John smiled and said, "Well, I don't care what you all think, I like it."

Haymitch replied around his food, "You would." Then he chuckles and asked, "What were their faces like?"

Katinss starts to smile and tells them they all looked shocked and terrified. In fact apparently one of them fell over the punch bowl. Everyone at the table started laughing. Even prim and proper Effie in the end agreed the Gamemakers deserved what they got for not paying attention to her charges.

Katniss still looked down and said, "I'll get a very bad score."

Saint John replied, "Who cares?"

"Scores matter, its how you get sponsors."

"And there's nothing we can do about that now. Can't change the past. All we can do is deal with what happens next. Just remember, we're in this together. You're not alone Kitten."

"Don't call me Kitten"

The whole table started laughing again. Portia told her scores only matter if there high, no one pays attention to low scores. Besides we could have been holding back as a tactic to hide their true skill.

Katniss looked like she felt better. She smiled at Saint John and dug into her food like she'd been starved. After dinner they retire to the sitting room. Saint John pours drinks all around, taking a small glass of whiskey for himself. Katniss has a small mug of hot chocolate and they sit around the television to watch the official scores. The Careers rank between eight and ten, most of the others average around five. Even little Rue somehow pulls a seven. As usual District 12 comes up last. The announcer mispronounces Saint John's name. Saint John scowls at the screen and says, "It's pronounced Sin-Jin you hammer head."

More chuckles from the group as a whole. Katniss said, "He can't hear you dummy."

Saint John hissed back at her. Then his score came up under his picture and everyone was shocked; a ten. Portia gave him a small hug. Cinna and Haymitch shook his hand congratulating him. Katniss smiled at him. At least he scored high, maybe that'll help them.

Then they announced her name. Her picture came up on the screen and there was a pause like the announcer couldn't believe what he was reading. When the eleven came up under her name everyone became very quiet. Then suddenly everyone was cheering, hugging and congratulating her. It was another first in the Hunger Games, the two tributes from District 12 score a ten and eleven.

Saint John smiled at Katniss and said, "And you were worried, good job Kitten." If scores meant sponsors than she should have several by now.

Katniss looked more shocked than anyone. She asked, "There must be a mistake. How…how could this happen?"

Haymitch replied, "Guess they liked your temper. They've got a show to put on. They need players with some heat."

Cinna hugs her and said, "Katniss, the girl on fire. Oh, wait until you see your interview dress."

She asked, "More flames?"

He replied, "Of a sort," with a smirk on his face.

When dinner broke up they changed into more comfortable clothes and met on the roof for more private training. He didn't teach her any new techniques but instead taught her how to apply what she learned in as realistic scenarios as he could devise. It's one thing to learn techniques it's another using them. He reminded her that her objective was to escape not fight it out unless she had no means of escape. He reinforced the concept of not fighting her enemies fight but making them fight hers. He told her that the others, even the Careers, had most likely never been in a real fight before. Most if not all of them would freeze out of shock and give them the initiative. They had the advantage of knowing more about the others than they knew about them. They continued practicing, he would attack her and she was to attempt to escape or if she couldn't try killing him as quickly as possible. The then showed her how to set up an ambush and even break through one that was set to catch her. It was very late and both of them were sweaty, winded and more than a little sore when Saint John decided it was time to quit for the night. He had her sit next to him in a bench and said, "I think were about done here. I've taught you as much as I dare with the time we had. So, rest up tomorrow night, were taking it off."

She gave him a questioning look.

He smiled. "Too much training can be a bad thing. We need to take a night off before the game starts and I doubt either one of his will be able to sleep the night before. That night we'll go over our final strategy. Decide how we're going to get you through this. Just remember, all warfare is deception. Don't believe anything you see or hear in the arena unless I'm looking you in the eye. Go get some sleep. It's going to be a long day."

Katniss got up and started to walk towards the door. Then she turned around and asked, "You were never worried about what I did with the Gamemakers; were you?"

He shook his head. "Not really."

"Why?"

"I'd plan B it."

She gave him another questioning look. "What's plan B?"

He shrugged. "Told you, kill the Peace Keepers and fight our way out of the city. Beyond that I'm not sure. I'd make it up as I went long. Good night Kitten."

"Don't call me Kitten." She left Saint John to his thoughts.

He watched her walk away smiling slightly. He always did like the rear view. He wanted to tell her about Plan B. He wanted to tell her more. He wanted to tell her everything but there was no way she'd understand. Besides there were a lot more people's lives in the balance than the 24 stuck in the game. He left the roof and tried to get a couple hours of sleep before the next bout of stupidity began.

After an hour of lying in bed tossing around he gave up. He let the shower go through three cycles of high power massage wishing Jordan was there. He'd never admit it but a back rub could always relax him enough to sleep and she was very good at back rubs. In fact she was very good at lots of things; sex, flying, breaking past computer security and killing. She was the best at the close range kill or so he seemed to know but couldn't really remember the details. He wondered how good Katniss would be at taking a person's life. Could she do it or would she hesitate and most likely die. He wondered what else the young girl who didn't even realize her crotch in his face was a turn on would be good at. He felt himself smile and a slight tingling feeling in his own groin. A feeling of shame came over him. She was his friend. A friend that he was committed to protecting. Besides she was way too young compared to him or at least what he could almost remember. He shook the thoughts from his head, finished his shower and got dressed in the same dark clothes he worked out in. He thought about going up to the roof but didn't have the motivation. Instead he went into the sitting room, turned on the lights and just lied back on the couch. He started watching some old Hunger Game re-runs on the TV. The shows were all edited recaps and didn't give him a lot of details about how it might really feel like in the arena. They did show the final kills which he studied intently. The climatic fights seemed to be done more hand to hand or with rocks or sticks than with any weapon found in the Cornucopia. Suddenly a silver tray with two ceramic pots and a single cup appeared on the table in front of him. He looked up and saw the same male servant he'd seen since moving into the new digs. It was the first time he really bothered to notice him. He wore a perfectly white uniform about his height and nearly the same hair color. He asked to the supposedly mute servant, "Don't you guys sleep?" When the servant just stood there, his head down looking at the floor, Saint John smiled and thanked him for his kindness. He poured his coffee and crème, sat back and watched more forced brutality. He asked out loud to no one, "How could anyone enjoy watching this shit?"

He felt someone tap his shoulder. He looked up and saw the servant standing over him. The servant pointed at his throat and then at the TV.

Saint John nodded and said, "It was a rhetorical question dude, I already know the answer."

He shut off the TV and sat back. He said quietly, "Raven, bang my head." Quiet Riot started playing in his head and suddenly felt better. He started singing quietly to the song, "_I'm a axe grinder, pile driver. My mother says that I never never mind her. I've no brain, I'm insane. My teacher says I'm one big pain. I'm like a laser, six string razor, I got a mouth like an alligator. I want it louder, more power, I'm going to rock it til it strikes the hour…Bang your head! Metal heath will drive you mad…" _He finished that song and another began. One that was far more disturbing for him; MegaDeth's Crush'em. "_Enter the arena and near the light. Step up now were in for a ride. This is war aint no fun and games…_" He told the music to stop. He began to wonder how many of the other tributes hadn't even begun to live yet. How many of them were virgins, never having known what it was like to be close to another human being. He wondered how many of them he'd have to kill himself to get Katniss home. Finally he said angrily, "Get out." He noticed the servant bow his head and start to leave. Saint John said, "Not you dude."

The servant turned back, looked around the room and then back at him curiously.

Saint John chuckled slightly and said, "I'm talking to the thoughts in my head…" and explained to him what he was thinking.

The man smiled at him knowingly. He pointed at Saint John and then down the hall towards Katniss' room.

Saint John started laughing and replied, "Wish I could but that'd just make things worse for her when it's over."

The mute frowned at him like he didn't understand what he meant.

Saint John looked at him a little frustrated and said, "They didn't take away your hearing dude. You must know I'm not coming back from this."

The frown turned into the same sad expression that he'd seen on so many others when they finally believed his intentions.

It occurred to him that the servant didn't believe him until now. Because he can't speak there was no reason for Saint John to lie to him.

He pointed at Saint John, then to his own lips, then to Katniss' room and finally to his own heart.

Saint John shook his head and replied, "Can't. Telling her would be just as bad as banging her. It'd be easier for her to let me go as a friend and not someone who loved her."

The servant shook his head. He then pointed at him.

Saint John realized that the young man was telling him not to tell her for her but to tell her for him. It would make him feel better and maybe less lonely. He had to admit the mute was right, it probably would make him feel a little better. He shook his head and said, "It's not about me. She still has to live after all this is over. I don't want the burden of a dead lover hanging over her head her entire life. Trust me I know how that feels."

The servant shook his head again. He picked up the crème pitcher, poured a small amount on the tray and wrote, "Shouldn't spend the rest of her life wondering why."

Saint John hadn't thought about it until the servant had spelled it out for him. Maybe he was right. Maybe not knowing why would be harder than knowing someone who loved her gave his life for her. The real question Saint John had was did he really love her or was it simply infatuation with a young woman that needed him.

The servant wiped the words away and then wrote, "You keep fighting for her." After a few seconds he wiped that away, nodded and left the room.

Those words kept echoing in his head long after the servant left. The sun was just starting to peek up over the Capital skyline when he made a decision. There wasn't any real choice, the system had to be taken apart. First things first; get her out of the arena alive. He looked around the room to make sure he was still alone; it wouldn't be long before Effie and Haymitch came by. He quietly gave instructions to the mysterious voice in his head. Instructions it would execute if it didn't hear from him again. Effie and the servants came in just as he finished talking to himself. She seemed surprised he was already awake and up ready to begin his day. He moved to the dining room just as the servants finished setting up breakfast. The young man he'd spoken to earlier was noticeably absent. He hoped it had nothing to do with their conversation but put it out of his mind; couldn't worry about that now. He had a mission to accomplish. Haymitch came in, grabbed a plate and started piling on rice with lamb stew on top of it. Effie took a cup of black coffee and ate a couple pieces of toast. Saint John didn't realize how hungry he was until he smelled the food. He grabbed a plate and plied on eggs and sausage links. He ate that, grabbed another plate and filled that with biscuits smothered in gravy. He was shoveling that down like a starving man when he asked, "So, today were working on the interview prep, right?"

Both of them just nodded.

"I don't want Kat to know what I plan on doing for the interview so can we do that separately?"

Effie had a sad look on her face when she asked, "Are you changing your mind about working with her?"

"No, I just don't think I can say what I have to with her in the room, not yet anyway." He looked around and asked, "Is this a problem?"

Haymitch said around a mouthful of stew, "No, no problem. Might work out better. Besides, I have an answer for that question you asked me before. I'm sure you wouldn't want her to know this anyway."

Effie gave him a questioning look but neither of them explained. Instead Saint John gave them a real quick rundown of what he wanted to say for the interview. Neither of the older folks seemed very surprised. They were still discussing some details when Katniss came in. She stared at them for a few seconds then made her way over to the food. She came to the table with a huge pile of rice and stew and began eating. Saint John couldn't even find the courage to say Good Morning Kitten to her. When she asked what was going to happen today Haymitch had to be the one to explain that they were no longer training as a team. He could see pain and betrayal in her eyes for the briefest of seconds. Then she hid her feelings and appeared to not care.

When they broke up Haymitch and Saint John were supposed to spend four hours discussing not just what he was going to say but how to say it during the interview. It didn't take more than two; turned out both of them were thinking the same thing. When they had more or less agreed on how he should make his delivery during his interview Haymitch walked over to the bar and poured both of them glasses of whiskey. He took a drink and asked, "You know that plan you had to join the tributes from one, two and four?"

Saint John nodded.

"Well, you can forget it. May I ask what the hell you two were doing during training?"

Saint John smirked. "Who figured it out?"

"Cato. He noticed you two were watching everyone and spending your lunch comparing notes." Haymitch scowled as he slammed his drink. He asked with a hard edge, "While you were learning how to fight didn't anyone ever teach you subtlety?"

Saint John signed. "Cato's smarter than he looks." He finished his own drink, took Haymitch's glass and poured them another.

He sat down again, downed half his drink. "Trust me, I won't underestimate him again.

He took a drink, looked at Saint John and asked, "Tell me you at least got some good information?"

"We did. Pretty much know everyone's talents, who's going to fight it out, who's going to run and survive and who's just going to die when the gong rings."

He looked back at his mentor and asked, "You think we stand a chance?"

Haymitch looked out the window. He sipped his drink quietly for several minutes before replying, "Yeah. I always thought you stood a chance. Her, not until I saw her score. Now, I think if you two stick together there's a very good chance you two will be the last ones standing. Then it comes down to the question; will you give your life for a girl that doesn't care about you half as much as you care for her?"

"What makes you think she doesn't care about me?"

Haymitch laughed. "Please, I was young once. If she cared this much about you there'd be one less bed being slept in around here." He looked back at him. "And you know it."

Saint John nearly said some guy crap about tapping that ass if she'd let her but stopped himself. He was supposed to be a 17 year old boy and was already pushing it showing how much he knew about fighting and combat. Not to mention all the charm and his drinking. If he started talking like an expert on women it could blow his cover. He had to remember they might be monitored in these rooms. Instead he went with a shy teenage boy. He put on a shy look and laughed quietly. "Like I'd know what to do even if she let me."

Haymitch looked at him with a smirk. "Don't worry about that. If it ever happened you two would figure it out. But that's not what I mean."

He looked at his mentor puzzled wondering what the old man meant. It occurred to him how strange it seemed to be talking to him about his love life, or his supposed lack thereof.

"I mean you already knew she doesn't love you."

"Haymitch, I'm not sure I love her." He decided it was time to spin a story. A convincing lie that might answer the old man's questions. He put a sad look on his face and looked down at his feet. "As far back as I can remember all I've done is fight. I wouldn't know love if it came up and bit me in the ass."

Haymitch shook his head and asked, "Alright then, no bullshit. Why did you volunteer for this?"

He sighed, looked up at Haymitch's face and replied, "Because I do care about her. She has lots of people that care about her. And nobody knows my name." He looked towards the window like he was embarrassed to say the rest. "I'm tired of fighting, tired of living in the woods like some animal. At least if I die for Kat my life might mean something. Maybe then people will know my name, they'll know Saint John Jamison lived. Maybe they'll even remember me after I'm gone."

He looked back and saw Haymitch nod like he understood. Haymitch finished his drink and said, "Oh, everyone knows your name now. They'll remember you son. If we pull this off they'll remember all of us for the next hundred years."

"Just remember any gifts we get go to her. I'm counting on you to help her if I can't be there."

Haymitch put his hand on Saint John's shoulder and replied, "Let me decide who gets what. You just play it like I said and we'll have half of Panem ready to sponsor you two." He pulled out his pocket watch. "Go get some lunch and meet Effie in your room for her bit on how to act during the interview."

Saint John moaned as he got up. "Can't wait."

"Haymitch got up for another drink and asked, "What the hell are you bitching about?" He slammed the drink down and poured another. "I have to try to keep that spitfire of ours from pissing off the entire country." He looked at the drink and poured it out.

Saint John walked over to the dining room laughing. He decided that despite his drinking he's start liking Haymitch.

The moment he walked in the room he could tell that Katniss' class didn't go well. She had him dress in a dark suit and walk around. Effie seemed satisfied that he could at least walk tall and appear presentable. His class with her lasted just over an hour, whether that was because she thought he was ready or just frustrated with his fellow tribute he didn't know. He was just glad the whole thing was over. As soon as she left he stripped out of the monkey suit, put on his sweats and went to the roof for a work out. Two hours of running, calisthenics and shadow fighting made him feel a lot better. He sat down in the garden's grass and meditated until the sun was setting.

He went back down to find out there wasn't going to be the normal formal sit down dinner. He stopped outside Katniss' room. He thought about knocking on her door and asking her how things went but changed his mind. She might ask questions he didn't want to answer; at least not yet. Best leave her alone like he promised last night. He went to his room, ordered a steak, mashed potatoes and asparagus in hollandaise sauce. The dinner just appeared from below the table. It was absolutely perfect. He followed that with two pieces of banana crème pie and his usual coffee. He took a shower, the hot water made him feel very tired. Katniss would have to be on her own tonight, he thought as he crawled into his bed early and slept peacefully for at least twelve hours.

...


	5. Chapter 5

Early the next morning he was awoken by his prep team getting him ready for his interview. They spent two hours scrubbing, shaving and cutting his hair just four days before. He wondered how much work they could have to do on him. After a quick breakfast they scrubbed him down again. Trimmed and styled his hair and shaved three days worth of growth, which wasn't much, off his face. At least they let him take sips of coffee while they worked. Then after lunch they started applying a golden powder to his body, fixed up his face to cover what few blemishes he had. By mid afternoon Portia came in with his costume covered in a grey garment bag. She checked their work, redid his hair and applied a little white eyeliner. She told him it would accent his eyes a little better. She also accented his hair with a few subtle gold strands. When she was satisfied she opened up the garment bag and helped him dress in a dark suit accented in orange flames. When she finished she smiled for the first time since she came in. Saint John looked at himself in the mirror and thought he looked a bit too plain. He was glad the makeup they spent so much time putting on him didn't make him look like some kind of metro-sexual douche bag. All it did was accent his normal features, just like Portia said it would. He needed to remember to trust her with all this beauty shit. He looked over at Portia not realizing he had any kind of look on his face.

She noticed he wasn't overwhelmed and asked, "You don't like it?"

He shrugged. "No its great, just after the parade I thought there'd be more for some reason."

Portia dismissed the prep team, walked up to him and straightened his tie. "Well, were a little limited with the boys. Traditionally it's a variation of the standard suit. Besides, we wanted to compliment Katniss' dress without taking too much away from it. I thought that's what you would want."

"Oh, definitely. I'm guessing she's going to need all the help she can get with this."

"You don't think her prep with Effie and Haymitch went well?"

He scratched his collar. He had to admit he looked good but still hated wearing suits. "I got that impression."

"You know what you're going to say?"

He told her what he planned on doing.

The warm smile on Portia's face made him feel better. She said, "I was hoping you were going to do that eventually. She has the right to know."

He looked back at the mirror and straightened his collar. "Yeah, I'm going to let it all hang out."

Portia had a mischievous smile on her face. She took a few steps back and looked him up and down. "Well, if you want to do that we could take off the suit, paint you in orange flames and walk out there naked."

He laughed. "Yeah, bet that'd get everyone's attention. Although, it might take away from Katniss a bit too much. Unless she was naked too."

Portia shook her head. "No, even if she was naked you would still take away from her."

"Really?"

"Trust me."

The bell sounded indicating it was time to head to the stage. Portia asked, "Nervous?"

"A little." He fidgeted with his collar again. It kept causing his neck to itch.

She fixed his collar, touched his face and looked in his eyes. "Just be the charming young man I met four days ago. Use your sense of humor and lay off the vulgarity."

"I'll try to remember that." They left the room for the elevator. Katniss, Cinna and her prep team met them and they went down to the ground floor of the Training Center. In the elevator Saint John smiled at his partner. She looked simply breath taking but the best he could come up with was, "You look amazing Kitten."

Katniss growled between clinched teeth, "Don't call me Kitten."

The others were still laughing quietly as the elevator stopped. The rest of the Tributes were being lined up on stage to take their seats. He and Katniss, being from District 12 would be last as usual. As they were being placed in line Haymitch came up behind them and said, "Remember, your still a happy couple so act like it," and he was gone.

Right after they sat down Saint John got his first look at Caser Flickerman, the host of the show. He frowned and said, "Better not wear that thing in the rain, he'd electrocute himself." He squinted a little and said, "And he needs to lay off the surgery before his face caves in." He could see Katniss shaking with quiet laughter. Thresh and Rue, from District 11 must have heard him as well because they both looked over. Rue held her hand over her mouth trying to keep from laughing out loud. Thresh just stared at him for a second. However, when he turned back there was a small curl at the corners of his mouth and he was shaking his head. Katniss' left arm swung at his stomach. He caught it in mid-strike by the wrist and held it tightly. She tried to wrestle it free but he wouldn't let go. Instead he brought her fist to his lips and kissed her hand gently. Her fist opened up and he took hold of her hand. She squeezed his hand hard as the interviews started.

Even though Flickerman looked like some kind of mutant game show host he did know his business. He played off the bolder tributes, letting them say their piece making them sound better than they would alone. The shyer ones he'd draw the right answers making them also sound far better than they normally would have. When it was Katniss' turn, he stood up with her and let his gentle grip linger until their arms were pulled apart. He sat down and let Cesar do his magic. At first she looked petrified not even realizing Ceaser had asked her a question but he didn't let that last long. When Katniss said her favorite thing about the Capital was the lamb stew it drew out laughs from the audience. Even he was in awe when she spun around watching flames dance around her. The comment about her falling off the stage like their mentor also drew lots of laughs. She played the question about her score in training perfectly. There wasn't a dry eye in the audience when she told everyone about her sister and that she promised her she'd try to win. He thought, Good job Kat, as she walked back to her seat.

Then it was his turn. Ceaser introduced him as Saint John Jamison, mispronouncing his name. He stood up and was suddenly filled with anxiety. That anxiety started to turn to fear. He could feel the change begin to come over him. He thought, Damn it not now. The last thing I need is to start barking out answers like some deranged drill sergeant. He closed his eyes and thought of his forest home to try to calm him. By the time he sat next to the host at the center of the stage he was more or less normal. His thoughts were moving very fast but that could work to his advantage. He tried not to look at the audience that was still clapping and cheering. Ceaser leaned close and asked him quietly, "Are you nervous?"

He replied still looking past the host at the wall, "Yeah a little."

"Don't be, you'll be great." He put on an incredible smile showing lots of very white perfect teeth. He asked this time in his show voice, "So Saint John what do you like most about our humble city?"

Saint John looked at him and put on his own wide smile. "Well, Ceaser, first my name is pronounced Sin-Jin."

He looked horrified. "I'm so sorry. We've all been mispronouncing your name since you arrived here."

Saint John looked up at the stylists and said, "Not all of you." He winked at Portia, who correctly pronounced his name from the beginning. He looked back at the host, smiled and said, "That's alright. Up until a few days ago most people in my home district didn't even know my name." He looked back at the crowd. "What do I like about the Capital? Well, that's a difficult question. First, I've never had anyone cheer for me before. You all have made me feel very welcome here."

The audience began cheering and clapping which made Saint John feel much more relaxed. He started to think he might be able to pull this off.

Ceaser clapped as well. "Well, you are welcome. We're all very happy all of you are here."

Saint John reached over grabbed Ceaser's arm and said, "Thank you Ceaser." He looked back at the crowd. "Second, I have to agree with Kat, the food's superb. I mean look at me, I must have gained five pounds in the last four days." He leaned to the right and copied what Ceaser did during Katniss' interview and asked, "Does it show?"

More laughs and cheers from the crowd. Ceaser shook his head. "No, you look very fit."

He turned towards the host smiling. "Why thank you again, you're very kind."

Ceaser smiled and nodded. He did a lot of smiling.

"And then there are the fashions." He turned towards Ceaser again and pointed at his suit. "I mean look at you, who's your tailor?"

Ceaser looked down at his suit laughing. "You want to know who my tailor is. I don't know he's very expensive. But then again if you win you could afford him."

Saint John shook his head. "Oh, not for me." He pointed out towards the section set up for the mentors and said, "I was thinking for Haymitch. He's going to need better clothes if he's going to be the mentor of the victor of the 74th Hunger Games. "

The audience started cheering again. Ceaser smiled. He sat back in his chair and said, "I like confidence." He leaned closer to Saint John. "But don't you think that might be a little arrogant?"

Saint John smiled and thought, They're set up. Time to let it out. He looked across the stage at Katniss. She was staring at him with a sad look. Her sadness made him feel sad as well. In a few days he'd lose his friend. He'd lose someone that might have been something more. He just hoped she wouldn't be too hurt at losing him. He looked back at Ceaser and shook his head. "You misunderstand. I didn't mean me."

The shocked, puzzled look that came over Ceaser's surgically altered face almost made him laugh. He looked back at Saint John's fellow tribute and asked, "Your referring to Katniss, aren't you?"

Saint John tried to keep his sad expression. "Yes."

Ceaser placed his hand on Saint John's arm. "You should have more confidence in yourself. I mean yes she scored an eleven in training but you scored a ten." He looked out at the crowd and said, "I'm sure there's lots of people out there that believes you can win." The audience started cheering their agreement with the show's host. They began chanting his name. Saint John found this to be a surreal experience. He wondered if these people would be cheering for his victory or his death when the gong rang.

Saint John looked down at his feet and said in a voice loud enough to be heard over the cheers, "You still don't understand…. I left District 12 knowing I'd never come back. I volunteered because I couldn't let my friend face this alone. I couldn't let the only person in the world that I've ever loved die. Life in 12 would be unbearable without her."

The cheers and chants stopped. It became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Even Ceaser was quiet for a second. He touched Saint John's shoulder. Saint John looked up at the host. Ceaser asked, "Does she feel the same way about you?"

A collective breath came from the audience. Like the suddenly realized what Ceaser was really asking; were the two Tributes from District 12 lovers that were about to be placed against each other.

Saint John shook his head. "I don't think so….I mean she knows I plan on helping her but I didn't have the courage to tell her I love her to her face. For some reason it seemed easier to say it here." He laughed. "Sometimes she acts like she can't stand being around me."

Ceaser smiled. "Well, sometimes that's how women tell us that they like us." A very convincing sadness came over his face. Saint John could even see a tear come down his face. "I feel genuinely sad for you."

Saint John smiled back at him. "Don't feel sad. A girl everyone loves and needs lives and a boy no one cared about dies. I'd call it a fair trade."

Several members of the audience were openly crying. Others looked like they were about to. Even Ceaser looked like he might break out in real tears any second. His voice was a little shaky when he asked, "Do you think you can do it? Your competition looks pretty fierce."

Saint John looked back at the other Tributes and smirked. "They don't stand a chance." He leaned closer to Ceaser and asked, "Want to know a secret?" He looked around the room. "I held back. Everyone will see what I can really do in the arena. While I might be afraid to tell Kat I love her to her face but trust me, I'm not afraid of a fight and I have no fear of death. I will fight. I will kill. And I will die for Katniss Everdeen."

Ceaser looked very concerned. "If you're successful, what happens when it's just you two left?"

The buzzer sounds ending the interview. However, Saint John said as he stood up, "When it comes to that I'll walk away and take my own life."

It may have been the first time Ceaser Flickerman was ever shocked by something a Tribute told him during an interview. The shock wore off quickly. He stood up and said, "I know the whole of Penam has more questions but sadly our time has run out." He took Saint John's hand and said, "I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we wish you luck and all our hopes go with you." He raised Saint John's hand and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Saint John Jamison, Tribute from District 12."

The audience erupted in a roar of cheers and applause. Saint John took a short bow to the crowd and walked back over to his seat, trying not to smile. He thought, Hook, line and sinker. When everyone stood for the anthem Saint John tried to take Katniss' hand again but she wouldn't let him, crossing her arms instead. When the Tributes left for their floors Katniss and Saint John found themselves in the same car. When the elevator arrived on the twelfth floor Saint John left the car first. He suddenly sensed someone coming at him from behind. He spun around to his right, hooked his right arm under Katniss's right armpit and placed his hand on the back of her neck. He kept her from running into the wall but gently kicked the back of her knee and pushed her backwards. She landed on the floor flat on her back. He followed her down placing his right knee on her chest and his right forearm under her chin; a perfect shot to her throat. He said with a harsh edge in his voice, "If you attack that sloppily in the arena you are dead."

The shock of his sudden counter to her attack wore off. She tried to struggle and said angrily, "You don't have the courage to tell me you love me so instead you tell the whole world! You have no right to say those things to everyone about me!"

The elevator opened and everyone else came out. Effie said horrified, "What are you two doing?"

Saint John said between clinched teeth, "This is her idea of foreplay." He regretted the words the moment they came out of his mouth.

Haymitch snorted laughter. "She didn't take it well did she?"

Saint John replied with as much sarcasm as he could put in his voice, "You think?"

Effie yelled, "Get off her!"

Saint John said in an apologetic voice, "Yes ma'am," and stood up. He held out his hand to help Katniss up. She batted his hand away and got up on her own.

She turned to Haymitch with fire in her eyes. "This was your idea, wasn't it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?"

Saint John sighed. "It was both our idea. He helped me work out the details."

"Yes, Haymitch is very helpful. To you!"

Haymitch shook his head and said in disgust, "You are a fool. You think he hurt you when he's done nothing but help you since you got here. He gave you something you could never achieve on your own."

"He made me look weak!"

Haymitch laughed. "Weak? He made you look desirable! And lets face it you need all the help you can get there. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Until he said he'd die for you. You're all they're talking about. The tragic star-crossed lovers of District 12." Haymitch pointed at Saint John. "The only one that looked weak was him. He made himself a target by saying he was too afraid to tell you to his face, telling everyone about no one caring about him and finally throwing down the challenge that no one can beat him. The Careers will come after him thinking he will be easier to kill."

Katniss looked at her feet and said in a soft voice, "But were not lovers."

Haymitch started moving towards her with anger in his eyes. Saint John moved in between her and the mentor, staring him down with cold shark like eyes. Haymitch stopped, sighed. "Who cares? It's all a big show. It's how you're perceived. The most I could say after your interview was you were nice enough, although that in itself was a small miracle. Now I can say you're a heart breaker. Oh how the boys back home will fall at your feet. Which do you think will get you more sponsors?"

Cinna walked over towards Katniss. This time Saint John moved over and let the stylist put his arms around her. He said, "They're right Katniss."

She looked both embarrassed and confused. "I should have been told so I didn't look so stupid."

Saint John said, "That's my fault. You seemed so stressed out over the interview I didn't want to make it worse by making you act a certain way. I needed a real, natural reaction and you did perfectly."

Her face started to turn red. She looked around the room. "Do you think I could be in love with him?"

Portia said, "I believed it. The way you avoided the cameras, the blush." The others nodded there assent.

Haymitch said, "You're golden sweetheart. You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block."

Her eyes looked up at Saint John and she said, "Sorry I attacked you."

This time Saint John grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. Everyone was so shocked none of them even had time to move. He pinned her there and said, "If you do that in the arena they're going to kill you. Might even take their time doing it."

She tried to break free but his grip was too tight. He could tell her initial fear was turning to anger. He asked in an neutral voice, "Who are you?"

She stared him in the eye and said with more anger and fire in her voice than he'd ever heard before, "I'm Katniss Everdeen Victor of the 74th Hunger Games."

Saint John smiled. "Now I believe you." He moved in close like he was going to kiss her and whispered in her hear, "And after dinner we'll talk about how we're going to make that happen." He let her go and left leaving her to ponder the same question that had been bothering him since his talk with Gale; does he really love her.

After dinner they sat around and watched the replay of the interviews. Seeing it all from the perspective of the audience convinced Saint John that his play had been successful. Although he might have said it all it was Katniss' reaction to his confession of his love for her that really sold it. Everyone had drinks except him and Katniss. He even refused his usual coffee for a tall glass of ice water. He needed to get himself off dependencies like alcohol and caffeine before the game started. When the replay was over everyone started to get up. He said, "I'd like all of you to stay for a while and help me go over our strategy for winning." Everyone stared at him like just told them he was part goat but after a few seconds they all sat back down.

Saint John leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds thinking about what he was going to say. He looked back down and told them that he and Katniss had been observing the other Tributes during training. He used the information they gathered to create his plan. Effie seemed a little upset at the thought of spying on the others but she didn't say anything. Saint John started by describing what he thought each Tribute would do once the gong rang. When they finished with the intelligence briefing Saint John told them what he had in mind for their survival strategy. Katniss was going to take off and run as fast and as far as she could with whatever was lying at her feet. Saint John was going to hang around and watch for a little while watch the Careers in action and see who else got away. Katniss was supposed to stay alive, find them a source of water and good hunting grounds. He would look for a defendable position to use as a home, harass the Careers, take out whoever has the bow and get it to her. Then once both of them were armed they'd plan out their offensive against the other tributes.

Katniss looked puzzled. "I thought you were going to kill the Careers first?"

Saint John shook his head. "I thought about it and realized if we take them first then we'll have to hunt down the others ourselves. Better to keep an eye on them, lead them where we want them to go and let them do the heavy lifting. Save us a lot of work." He laughed. "Maybe if we're lucky they won't get along and kill each other."

Katniss smiled, she seemed to like that idea. Then she looked up and asked, "Why don't I just take the bow from the Cornucopia at the beginning?"

Both Haymitch and Saint John replied, "No," in unison.

Saint John looked at the older mentor and motioned for him to explain his thought. Haymitch said, "The Cornucopia is a bloodbath and trust me you're not ready for that. Best you can do is get the hell away from it as fast as you can." He looked at Saint John and said, "I'm not sure you could do it."

Saint John replied, "Don't worry. I don't plan to try."

Both Haymitch and Katniss scowled at him. They'd expected him to take the fight right to everyone in the beginning. Portia seemed relieved at the idea of him not trying to fight it out alone. He rolled his eyes and asked, "Come on guys how dumb do you think I am?"

Katniss replied, "How long do I have to answer that?"

Everyone started laughing. He looked at her frowning until she started smiling. He shoved her gently which she didn't return. He looked at the others and said, "Well, that's about it. Katniss keeps us alive until were ready to fight. Then she picks them off with arrows while I tear apart anyone that gets too close. Nice, simple and straight forward." He finished his water. His mouth was suddenly dry and he could feel his face begin to flush. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. When he opened his eyes he asked, "Any questions, comments, suggestions?"

Katniss smirked. "So what you're saying is I have to do all the work?"

He gave her a side long glance and smirked. He reached his right arm around her shoulders, pulled her close and said, "Whatever makes you feel better Kitten." He then kissed her cheek.

Katniss put her arm around his waist. She whispered, "Don't call me Kitten," and kissed his cheek.

Everyone, except Haymitch seemed to enjoy the show of affection between the two of them. Haymitch asked, "Sounds good except one problem; what makes you two think the arena wouldn't be barren or pure poison to you?"

Saint John was going to answer the question but Katniss beat him to it. "We don't. Based on the training we went though it appears were going into a forest but that's just an assumption. We can't plan for things we don't know about so there's no point in worrying about it. If it ends up a desert or something else then we'll have to adapt to it. Just like we can't plan for whatever surprises they have waiting." She looked at Saint John. "We'll figure it out, right?"

Saint John smiled. "Right." He was proud of her. He understood how a teacher feels when his student surpasses his training. More than that she sounded confident for the first time since this whole thing started. Her believing she will make it back was far more important than anything he could teach her. The female Avox brought in a tray with two pitchers and two mugs on it. Katniss thanked her. He poured out their usual bedtime tea with a little warm milk. The party began to break up. Effie gave them both hugs and wished them luck. Cinna shook Saint John's hand and told Katniss he'd see her in the morning. The stylists travel with their charges to prepare them for the arena. Haymitch stood up and looked at both of them for several seconds. Katniss asked, "So any final words of advice?"

"Yeah." He looked at Katniss and said, "You stay alive." He then looked at Saint John. "And you, give em hell kid." It was that simple and he was gone. The two tributes were now alone in their apartment. They sipped their tea in silence for several minutes. They both wanted to say more but neither of them could find the words.

Finally Katniss looked at him sadly and said, "Saint John, I don't want you to die."

He sipped his tea trying to remain impassive when he replied, "I'm not excited about the idea either but only one of us can walk out of the arena."

There was another long pause. She looked away and said, "Saint John, I keep thinking it might be better if you're the one that goes home."

"Better for who? It wasn't part of the game when I said life in District 12 would be unbearable without you. Even if I win I can't go back, I'm not strong enough to live with that again. Besides, the game hasn't even started and you're about the end. Let's take this one step at a time." He looked over at her and said, "Katniss, look at me." She looked over tears starting to build in her eyes. "Both of us concentrate on staying alive, watching each other's backs and when were the last two we'll decide how it will end then."

They stared into each other's eyes for several seconds. Finally Katniss looked away and asked, "You still want me to run?"

He nodded. "Plans the same. You take whatever's at your feet and get as far away from the others as quickly as you can. I'll hang out just long enough to make sure no one's following you then I'll leave. We'll hook up the next morning and refine the plan then." He noticed it was getting late. He finished his tea. "It's getting late Kat, we should try to get some rest."

Katniss looked like she wanted to say more. Almost like she didn't want the night to end. She finished her tea, stood up told him good night and started walking to her room. Suddenly she turned around, came back to the table and hugged him long and hard.

He stroked her back as comforting as he could and whispered, "It'll be alright. Just remember what I taught you, believe in yourself and I'll see you in the arena. Good night Kitten." He was a little worried when she just let go of him and started to leave without telling him to stop calling her Kitten.

Then she turned around and smiled. "I can still shoot you in the butt."

He laughed as she went into her room. He sat there alone for a while going over the real plan in his head over and over. At first he wanted Katniss to help him with the plan but changed his mind. He guessed she would insist on going with him and he didn't think he could do what he needed to in the beginning if he had to watch her as well. She was a survivor. She could make it on her own for a day as long as the others weren't stalking her. It was his job to keep that from happening. He went to his room and tried unsuccessfully to get some sleep.

Portia arrived with the sun, gave him some clothes and escorted him to the roof. He was frozen to the aircraft's boarding ladder the moment he touched it. A woman in a white lab coat injected a tracker into his left arm and he was released from the ladder. A huge breakfast was laid out for him and his stylist. He looked at the set up especially the coffee longingly but knew most of the rich food and coffee wouldn't help him now. Instead he took a bowl of hot grain and orange juice and sat by the window. He watched the sky go by eating and fighting the urge to find the cockpit and take the aircraft over. He was on his third bowl of grain covered in honey when the window blacked out. He knew they were close to the arena location. Portia and him were sent in a sealed, dark tube to his underground launch room. In the room he took one last shower, brushed his teeth and stood around wearing nothing but a towel waiting for the clothing he would wear in the arena to arrive. Portia looked worried about him but didn't say anything. When his clothes arrived she helped him dress in simple undershorts, tight fitting socks under dark colored, thin but sturdy pants and shirt. The boots were soft leather with flexible rubber soles. Finally he put on a thick belt around his waist.

Portia spent a few seconds examining the coat. She said while she was helping him put it on, "It's built to reflect body heat, going to be some cold nights."

Saint John replied, "Good, I like the cold, it'll keep me awake at night." He started stretching he arms and legs out, warming up. He could feel his heart rate begin to quicken. His muscles began to swell as his mind and senses became sharper. Portia handed his charm to him. The token he was allowed to being in the arena with him. She told him the Gamemaker's decided it wasn't a weapon. He smiled as he took it from him and placed it around his neck. He tucked it under his shirt. He continued stretching and warming up making sure the clothes didn't hamper his mobility. The tribute costume fit perfectly and seemed ideal for the situation. Portia sat down on the bench and motioned for him to join her. He took a glass of water and sat down next to her. He slammed down that glass and two more wondering what he was going to say to Portia before this began. He decided it was best not to say anything and finally asked, "Do you have a piece of paper and a pen?"

She walked over to a small table and pulled out a tablet and pen and sat back down. "Sometimes Tributes want to write letters to their families before it begins."

He wrote down what he didn't have the courage to say in person, folded his letter and handed it to her. "Give this to Katniss after it's over, please."

Portia took the note and nodded. They sat there for a while when a soft female voice told them it was time. They stood up and hugged. Portia whispered, "I should have broken the rules just once."

Saint John smiled. He brushed her face softly and replied, "No, it just would have made things worse." They walked over to the silver platform he was supposed to stand on. He kissed her and said, "Thank you for everything you did for me and I'm sorry." She smiled at him tears coming from her eyes. The glass tube came down and the platform started moving up. He waved at her and looked up at the blinding light he was moving towards. He could smell fresh air, pines trees, water and even more than a few animals. He smiled and thought at least this is starting out right. As he came out of the tube he heard a man's voice announce, "Ladies and Gentlemen, let the seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin."

Portia watched Saint John disappear into the unknown and was overcome with emotion. She felt the room begin to spin and had to sit down before she fell. She knew it would be hard had no idea it would be this difficult to watch her tribute go into the arena and to his death. Cinna had warned her about getting too close to him but he was so brave and charming it was impossible not to feel close to him. She was still holding the letter he gave her. She stared at it for several seconds before deciding to read it. She knew it was an invasion of his privacy but couldn't resist. She had to know what his final words were.

"_I lied to you about lots of things, who I am, where I came from. I wish things were different. I wish I could have told you the truth and I don't expect you to understand but I did it to protect you, Gale and the others back home. When you get home you can't be afraid of being happy. You can't live your life afraid of losing what you have. Katniss you need to forget what happened in the arena and move on with your life. Gale loves you and you belong with him. If I meant anything to you don't my sacrifice be in vain. Let go of your fear and open yourself up to a relationship with Gale. Don't keep denying yourself the possibility of happiness. It took me this long to figure it out, guess I'm as big an idiot as everyone else, I love you Katniss Everdeen. I always will and wherever I end up I will take that love with me. That's the best gift anyone has ever given me. Good bye Kitten._"

Portia watched a tear fall onto the letter and soak into the expensive paper. She looked up at the monitor just in time to see all the Tributes run off their pedestals, all except Saint John who just stood there like he was frozen. She couldn't understand why he was just standing there. The others were trying to take what they could and run away from the Career Tributes. The Careers grabbed whatever weapons they could get from the Cornucopia and began slaughtering anyone they could catch. The camera angle changed back to Saint John as he walked off his pedestal and slowly moved towards the front of the Cornucopia. She watched the girl Tribute from two kill a boy that was fighting Katniss for an orange back pack. The girl then tried to throw a knife at Katniss who adjusted her new pack to protect her. The cameras seemed to fixate on the star crossed lovers switching from Katniss to Saint John and then to the blood bath at the Cornucopia. The stylist was still trying to figure out why he was just standing there and not following Katniss or trying to protect her when a boy with a wicked looking axe run at Saint John. The camera came in for a close up on Saint John; he stood there a slow smirk coming across his face. Portia screamed at the monitor, "Run!" But she already knew it was too late.


	6. Chapter 6

Sixty seconds can seem like an eternity when anticipating something good or bad. It takes a well trained person or someone of extraordinary will to bury their anxiety and use that time wisely. Saint John started by closing his eyes and using meditative techniques he couldn't remember really learning to clear his mind. His mind no longer clouded with emotion began thinking about the situation from a tactical point of view. His muscles and nerves were relaxed but ready to move faster than any normal human could. He opened his eyes and looked around his new environment. The golden Cornucopia was directly in front of him, some of its gifts all around the mouth like someone had dumped it out. Beyond that was a dense tree line consisting mostly of pines that wrapped around most of the field he was in. To his right was a large lake and behind him was a drop off. He couldn't see what was beyond that from his current position. He looked at his fellow competitors, the other tributes, standing around him. All of them ready to run off their pedestals, even the ones he considered lambs to the slaughter during training. He guessed none one was willing to just stand there and die. He wasn't sure why he thought any of them would simply give up. He picked out the ones he was interested in. First the Careers. Cato and his crew looked grim, jaws set, eyes focused on the stuff sitting around the golden horn. The cute red-head Katniss called Foxface was looking past the weapons and supplies straight into the forest ready to run. Little Rue was also looking into the forest. She glanced at him. Saint John gave her a quick wink. She smiled back. He looked away from the little girl wondering how he was going to kill her if it came down to it. Could he be that heartless, even to save a woman he loved. Her fellow tribute, Thresh, stared at him with murder in his eyes. He was a different story. He didn't really want to kill the young man, he didn't really want to kill anyone. But he knew he wouldn't hesitate, Rue might be a problem but anyone else, everyone else was already dead. He finally looked over at his friend. Katniss seemed fixated on the tree line beyond the Cornucopia until he realized there was a silver bow and quiver of arrows right in her line of sight. She glanced over to him. He knew what she was thinking and shook his head. He hoped she would just follow the plan otherwise things were going to get very nasty very quickly. The sixty seconds were up and everyone started running. He stayed put watching Katniss pick up a sheet of plastic and a loaf of bread as she ran. He lost sight of her and walked around to get a better view. He watched her and another boy fight for an orange backpack just as Clove threw a knife into the boys back. The murderous girl pulled a second knife and flung it at Katniss. He was about to yell and take off ready to break the vicious girl's neck with his bare hands when he saw the blade bury itself in the back of Katniss' new backpack. He exhaled a small breath out of relief. He was starting to curse himself out for not being in position to help her and forced it out of his mind. It turned out well and any mistakes he made had to be forgotten if he was going to complete his mission. The other Careers had weapons as well and were hacking anyone they could catch apart. They created a perimeter around the opening of the Cornucopia and killed anyone that came close to it. It was a pretty good plan and he wondered if he might have underestimated Cato again.

The boy from District Four looked over at him, yelled something and charged holding a very sharp and deadly looking small axe above his head. It looked more like a modern tomahawk with a single thick blade at one end and a sharp pick at the other. Saint John smirked as he realized his first kill of the game was about to come right to him. The boy was a few inches shorter and maybe a couple pounds lighter than him but he seemed fearless with the axe in his hand. Just as the boy was about to cleave Saint John's head in two he raised his left arm blocking the handle of the axe. At the same time Saint John's right hand hit the boy's right wrist causing him to lose his grip on the axe. Saint John grabbed the axe with his left hand, spun completely around and struck the boy's left knee with his new weapon. The axe blade hit the back of his knee right between the bottom of his thigh and the top of his calf. The blade cut right through the cartilage, tendons and ligaments that held the knee joint together. Saint John was standing straight again just as the boy fell over on his left side his now severed lower leg falling away from him. The boy screamed as he grabbed the bottom of his leg trying to stop the blood that was streaming out of the wound. Saint John looked down at him for a second. He felt nothing for the boy. No sympathy no remorse for what he just did. He was considering ending the screaming boy's life not because he wanted to end his pain but the screaming was getting annoying. He looked up just in time to see Clove throw a knife at him. He tucked he axe in his belt and focused his vision on the spinning blade. His mind predicted its trajectory and its rate of spin. Just as it was about to hit his chest he pivoted on his right foot, moved out of its way and grabbed it out of the air with his right hand. He examined the blade for a second. It was a double edged dagger design with a thick wooden handle. It wasn't an ideal blade for throwing, which demonstrated the young girl's skill, but perfect for fighting. He looked back at his attacker and smiled. Clove's eyes and mouth were open wide out of surprise. Her shock didn't last long. She gave him a deadly snarl, pulled out another blade and threw it side long with her left hand. This one was a thin silver colored throwing knife with a small metal handle and triangle shaped blade. The blade was heading directly for his throat. He moved his upper body slightly to the right and reached out again to catch it. The speed it rotated at along with the awkward angle it was thrown made it more difficult to predict. Because of this he was slightly off and the bottom edge of the blade made a small laceration on the inside of his thumb. The felt the blade cut him but didn't really call the sensation pain. His enhanced endorphins already blocked it. He licked the blood off his hand, by that time the wound had already sealed over to a scab. He continued watching the others as he tucked that knife in the outside of his right boot.

Between his mortally wounding one of their own and catching two thrown blades he had all of the Careers attention. So much so in fact that some of the other tributes made it past their perimeter and started grabbing what they could. Saint John drew his axe and pointed it at the Cornucopia. Cato looked back and started yelling at the others to go back to killing the other tributes. A young blonde girl tried running past him with a large dark grey backpack. Saint John wanted to let her go but he'd need more than an axe and a couple of knives to survive in the arena until he was ready to join Katniss. Besides, letting her go would mean he or Katniss would just have to kill her later; might as well do it now. He ran, caught her and buried the pick end of the axe in the top of her skull. Her body convulsed as her now dead brain sent random signals to her limbs. When the body went completely limp he spun her around so her body was between him and the Careers, held her up by the axe and took off the backpack. He felt regret for killing her and put it out of his mind. It had to be done. When he realized the Careers were more interested in protecting the supplies than pressing their attack on him he removed the axe from the girl's head, splattering his face with blood, skull fragments and brain matter, and let her body fall to the ground. The back pack was pretty heavy. He hoped it was full of stuff that he could live on for a few days. He put it on watching the carnage unfold in front of him. A small young boy snuck behind the giant boy from one, Marvel, and started to make a break for it carrying a clear plastic container with water. Saint John, waited until he was clear of the others, took aim and threw his axe. The throw couldn't have been more perfect sticking the blade right in the center of the boy's back. He was dead before he hit the ground tossing his water container a few meters ahead of his body. Saint John started walking towards the boy's lifeless body when he heard a subtle change in the air. He ducked, rolled on his right shoulder just as an arrow flew over him. He grabbed his axe and pulled the dead boy over him. Another arrow buried itself in the corpse. Saint John got his feet under him and with some effort stood up using the body as a shield. The axe, still lodged in his back made an excellent handle. Glimmer shot another arrow that got stuck in his makeshift shield. Saint John laughed as he went over and picked up the water jug. "Give it up blondie, you're not going to hit me." He looked down at the arrows stuck in the dead boy's chest. "On second thought, keep shooting. The arrows will come in handy once I get my hands on that bow." He moved slowly towards the lake away from the Careers.

Cato looked over at him. "If you want the bow, come and get it."

Saint John laughed as he slowly moved backwards towards the lakeshore. "Don't worry, I will when the times right. Better watch her back, she's the first I'm going after." He gave them an evil smile hoping they could see it. "Might even take my time slitting her throat. Give her one last thrill." She shot another arrow at his head. It didn't take much for him to dodge it. He laughed as he moved towards a small group of trees and out of their sight. He tore the axe from the boy's back spattering blood all over the front of his jacket. He quickly but carefully pulled the arrows out of the body and tucked them into his belt. He wasn't lying about wanting them or the bow. However, the whole taking his time with her, that was psychological warfare. Instill terror in your enemies, make them fear you beyond reason and few things instills terror in someone more than the idea of being raped. He ran along the shoreline leaving an easy to follow trail in the loose sand. When he had gone exactly five kilometers he stopped for a second to clean his face and jacket in the lake and then moved into the forest. He stooped at the edge of the trees and considered what he should do next. If they followed his trail they would be heading away from Katniss. He could set up an ambush but if they didn't follow him he could be here waiting all night for no one to show up. Besides, he told Katniss he'd meet up with her at first light. He looked up at the sky, remembering where the sun was when he last saw Katniss and tried to figure out where she was right then. He picked up a stick and drew a quick map of the arena he'd seen so far. If she kept moving in the same direction the sun would have been at her left. He looked deeper into the woods and guessing she would try to stick to higher ground decided on his course. He started jogging away from the lake into the woods with the sun at his back. The lack of sleep along with his chemistry returning to normal created a great deal of fatigue. He was breathing heavy when he decided to take a break and stopped in front of a small grass covered mound. He looked around and decided this would make a pretty good camp. The water jug was slowing him down a little but weighed against the fact that he needed water it was an acceptable sacrifice. He sat down behind a bush so he was hidden from view but could still see where he came from and took off his back pack. He had just opened it when the cannon started firing, once for every Tribute that had died. He counted nine shots, 15 left alive. He started going through is supplies. The pack was sturdy nylon and plastic with a thin frame and two outside pockets. In the right side he found a small case with five fishing hooks and about 50 meters of line. The left pocket had a bottle of water purifying tablets. A small compartment at the center had a folded silver survival blanket. He laughed. He couldn't imagine what the hell he was going to use that for. The damn thing practically glowed in the dark. Then again he thought it might be good for setting up an ambush. Assuming anyone was dumb enough to be lured in with it. He opened the main compartment and found the good stuff. First was the food. He found two metal one liter water bottles both full, two instant meals, two blocks of hard cheese and two thick chocolate bars. That would be enough to keep him going for at least three days. Below that was a roll of black duct tape, a folding knife, a long stick used to start fires and a medical kit. Duct tape was one of the most useful inventions ever created by man. The knife was black with a four inch blade that folded into its handle. The front of the blade was a pointed tanto and the rear was serrated, great for sawing though things. The medical kit had a selection of sealed bandages, four squares of cloth used to make slings, among other things, a small antiseptic spray bottle, a foil package of 12 pain reliever tablets and a container of blood clotting ointment. All in all not a bad hall, he thought. He placed a water bottle in his pocket, the fishing gear in another and clipped the knife to his belt. He then repacked his pack so he could carry everything in it leaving his hands free. First he stuffed the water jug into the bottom and placed everything else on top of it. He looked up, he had a few hours before the sun went down. The mound would make a good base to build a shelter. He collected branches, twigs, roots and weaved the frame of a lean to shelter like he had in District 12. After covering the frame in leaves and sections of sod he set it against the mound and took a few steps back. Good job, someone would have to trip over it to find it, he thought. Saint John yawned and decided that he needed to take a small nap. It would be a couple of hours before nightfall and at least that long before the Careers could track him here. He grabbed his pack, crawled into his new home and went to sleep.

He woke instantly his senses sharp and ready for a fight. It wasn't the cold that woke him even though he was shivering. It wasn't the smell of burning wood that had found its way into his home. It was the sound of hushed voices and quiet footsteps that brought him around. He looked around the completely dark room and wondered how long he'd been asleep. He slowly grabbed his axe and knives still listening to the voices in front of his shelter. He could hear two boys and at least one girl heading away from him. He thought it had to be the Careers stalking him. He counted to sixty making sure they were heading away before slowly, silently crawling out from his lean to. He belly crawled on to the top of the mound. He could still see some moving orange glows still heading away from his home. At first he thought that was the burning wood smell until he saw another orange glow farther off to his right. It was a camp fire. A camp fire the Careers were closing on. He was about to go back into his shelter until he had a horrible thought. Naw, she can't be that dumb, he thought. After a few seconds he said quietly, "Shit, if that's Kat first I kill them then I kill her," and took off after the Careers. You can move quickly through the woods or you can move quietly through the woods but doing both at the same time is nearly impossible. Every twig that snapped under his feet almost made him jump out of his skin. Just as he was almost at the fire he heard evil laughing and a girl's scream. He crashed through the bushes into a clearing and found a tall dark haired girl lying on her side by a small campfire. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. The girl was too tall and too pale to be Katniss. He froze for a second wondering if Cato and his crew had heard him. When none of them came back he figured it was safe to approach wondering why the cannon hadn't sounded. He looked at the girl's wound, made by a thick blade, just below her ribs on her right side. He shook his head whoever stabbed her they couldn't have picked a worse place. They missed the girl's heart or major arties. It could take hours possibly a day for her to die. He knelt by her head and was only slightly surprised when a blood covered hand grabbed his coat.

The girl looked up at him coughing up blood. There wasn't any fear in her anymore, she was beyond fear. She asked in a quiet choked voice, "Help me please?"

Saint John replied, "I will," and cradled her head in his lap. He smoothed black hair off her face and said, "Shh, think about the happiest place you've ever been. Picture it in your mind. Remember what it felt like to be there, what it smelled like." The girl nodded and closed her eyes. When he saw a thin smile on her face, he told her to describe it to him. The girl was just about to speak when Saint John stuck the small throwing blade into the back of her head right at the base of the neck. The blade cut her brain stem killing her instantly. Her legs jerked a few times and then nothing. He gently laid her head back down. He could hear someone coming back towards the camp when the cannon fired. He heard Cato say, "See, told you I killed her."

Saint John felt a smirk come over his face. It was time to have fun. He asked in a menacing whisper, "Cato, am I going to have to clean up your mess every time?" He ducked back into the bushes before they ran back to the clearing. Saint John belly crawled around the edge of the clearing staying hidden by the growth until he was where they came in. He got to his feet remaining hidden and picked up a large stick. He broke the stick making it sound a little like a gun shot, and ran off making as much noise as he could into the trees. He heard Cato yell, "There! The guy from 12; get him!" He ran another ten steps, cut left behind more shrubs and dove to the ground. The Careers ran past him and stopped. He smiled wider, he was having a ball harassing his enemy. He moved silently around to their right and whispered, "Hope you took a shower Glimmer, I like my girls clean."

They started to take off after him but Cato held out his sword stopping them. "He's herding us, trying to set us up."

Saint John cursed under his breath. Cato was smarter than he thought, a lot smarter.

Cato pointed at the girls. "You two stay here, back to back and kill anyone you see." He grabbed the other boy and the two of them took off running past Saint John. He thought, so much for Cato being smart. He split up his group and left Saint John's two primary targets alone in a black clearing surrounded by cover. He started moving out of the clearing taking aim at Glimmer with his axe. Once he threw it he planned on hitting Clove as hard as he could. As fast and as strong as he was along with his fighting skill he figured they'd both be dead before either of them could make a sound. Just as he came out into the open Glimmer looked straight at him. He had just enough time to notice she was wearing glasses before the blonde shot an arrow directly at his heart. He barely dodged the arrow actually feeling the air move past his shoulder. He ran straight past them and took off into the woods behind them.

Clove yelled, "He's here!" He could hear the whole group give chase.

Stealth and quiet were completely out the door as he crashed through the forest for his life. He needed to get some distance on Cato's crew before trying to evade or possibly counter attack. He got to the edge of a small hill about two seconds ahead of his pursuers. He turned right, ran along the edge until he found a thick tree branch hanging over the hill. He leaped up grabbed the branch and swung around it to get to his feet. He hugged the tree and moved around to the other side out of the Career's sight. He could hear the Careers stop and begin arguing where he went. They swept the area for almost an hour never even looking at the back of the tree he was in before giving up and heading back to their camp. He blew out a breath to relieve the stress and shook his head. He knew it had to be the glasses the girls were wearing. They had to be some kind of night vision filter. He thought with his enhanced senses and mysterious skills he'd have the advantage at night. With those glasses Cato's crew ruled the night. He'd have to change his whole combat plan. He shrugged; it wasn't that big of a deal. He told Cinna and Portia that combat plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy and his didn't. He dropped from the branch he was standing on, grabbed the branch with his hands and let himself fall the last meter to the ground. The sun was beginning to come up and he still had to find Katniss, assuming she was still alive. He missed the death announcement last night so he really didn't know who was still in the game and who wasn't. Until he was certain she was dead he'd continue under the assumption she was still alive. He started walking back towards the scene of the campfire hoping maybe she was close enough to have heard part of that exchange. He wasn't disappointed.

He slowly, quietly made his way over to the camp fire and found Katniss looking pretty well rested. She was even cooking a killed rabbit in the coals of the dying fire. His first instinct was to sneak up behind her, grab her in a bear hug and surprise her. But he figured he'd get a knife in his gut for it. Instead he said quietly, "Hey Kitten."

She spun around her knife in her hands. Katniss looked at him like he was some kind of ghost or something.

Saint John put his hands up showing he wasn't carrying a weapon. "You alright?"

She nodded but stood there frozen like she couldn't move. Then suddenly she dropped her breakfast and knife and ran into his arms. She held him so tightly he was a little shocked by her strength. He whispered, "It's ok, Kat." He looked at her eyes and saw a couple of tears in them. He frowned. "What's wrong?" She responded by scowling at him and slapping his arm.

"Ow; what the hell was that for?"

She let go of him. "That's for scaring the hell out of me. I thought they'd got you."

"I scared you? You know I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Clove throw that knife at you. I told you to run the hell away from the Cornucopia."

"I saw the bow and tried to go for it." She slapped his arm again in the same spot. "You know it's your fault I didn't get it."

"Ow! Will you cut that out?!" He rubbed his arm. "How the hell is it my fault?"

"You distracted me. I missed my chance. I was lucky to get out of there with what I have."

"Well was it worth nearly getting killed?"

She showed him her pack and told him what was in it. He nodded. "Not too bad. Take it you didn't find any water?"

She shook her head.

Saint John reached in his pocket, pulled out his bottle of water and tossed it at her.

She caught the bottle, opened it and started drinking thirstily.

He held his hands out. "Kat, take it easy, has to last until you find more."

She stopped drinking, recapped it and tried to give it back to him.

Saint John held out his arms. "Keep it I have more. Enough to get me though a couple of days."

She nodded. They froze for a few seconds staring in each other's eyes. He hadn't realized how much he missed her until this moment. He wanted to grab her up and take her someplace where no one could ever hurt her. That might have been a possibility before she volunteered to take her sisters place in the games. Now, it was still conceivable but others would pay with their lives. He continued staring at her grey eyes wondering what she was thinking. He suddenly felt incredibly embarrassed like she was looking past his naked body and into his soul. He looked away first and tried to get back to work. "Ok, well, we need to get moving. We're still too close to their camp. Right in the middle of their hunting ground."

Katniss had started to blush slightly and looked away. After a few seconds she looked at the dawn sky. She pointed away from the rising sun. "I say we head that way. Stay high as much as we can and find some water."

He nodded. "Sounds good but remember water runs down hill so it might be easier to find it low. You find water and some good hunting grounds. I'll keep an eye on my new friends, find out what their planning and keep bugging them. I'll get the bow and whatever else I can steal and meet you here day after tomorrow."

She shook her head. "You make it sound so simple."

Saint John laughed. "Don't worry it won't be. Cato's a bit smarter than I gave him credit and he's been trained in not just how to fight but tactics as well."

She looked worried. He smiled and put his arms around her shoulders. "As good as he might be, I'm better. I'll figure it out."

She looked up at him and then suddenly buried her face in his chest. She whispered, "I don't want us to split up again. We can work better together."

He wanted to tell her it wasn't time yet. He thought about telling her he couldn't move on them quietly if she was with them but that wouldn't work. She could move through the forest quieter then he could. There was only one reason he didn't want her along; he didn't think he could be as ruthless as he needed to be with her around. But she did have a point. They would have better luck finding game and water together than apart. Besides, he could help her find a good camp and then head out to attack the Careers camp and steal the bow. He nodded. "I got to go back to my camp and pick up my gear."

She looked a little shocked by his giving in so easily. She picked up her pack, breakfast and knife and followed him. As they walked back towards his lean to she offered him some of her rabbit. He refused. His pack had more than enough food for the moment and he didn't want to take any of hers. When they arrived at his camp he stopped her, smirked and asked, "Ok, where's my camp?"

Katniss looked around for about three seconds, pointed directly at the mound his lean to was set up against and replied, "There."

His surprised look quickly turned into a scowl. "How the hell did you do that?"

She laughed quietly. She started walking towards the shelter pointing at his camouflage weaving. "The wall you made doesn't match the surrounding grass, makes it look like someone made it." She turned back to him smiling. "You should have spent more time at the camouflage station." She then pointed at the ground. "And you should have covered up the foot prints."

He looked at the wall he made and swore it wasn't the way he left it. It was off a little to one side. He then looked at the ground and noticed the footprints leading from the trees behind him to the lean to. It took less than a second to realize there was something wrong with this picture. He yelled, "Katniss get down!," and ran for the shelter.

Katniss ducked just as a spear came out of the shelter and nearly struck her in the chest. Saint John grabbed the spear and pulled hard. The spear came out of the wall. He threw it behind him. The wall of the shelter flew apart as a boy came running out. He drew his axe and buried the blade in the boy's stomach. He tore it through his right side sending pieces of organs and blood flying. The target fell to the ground rolling on his back. The boy screamed as he tried to hold the rest of his body together with his hands. The blood flowed freely though his fingers. He looked up as Saint John approached begging for him to stop. Saint John brought his axe down on the boy's throat nearly decapitating the helpless kid. A cannon sounded. Saint John shook with anger, not at the boy but at himself. He should have known the boy was there. He should have heard his breathing or his heart beat. Instead he was so preoccupied with trying to impress Katniss that he missed the signs. He needed to be more aware of what was going on and had to move faster or he was going to get her killed. He examined the boy for the first time. He was about two thirds his height with soft brown eyes and long dark hair. It wasn't one of the Careers, just a kid trying to survive. He wiped the blood off his axe on the dead boy's jacket and looked over at Katniss.

Katniss looked horrified. He started to move towards her and she started backing away. She asked, "How many?"

His shoulders slumped in fatigue and sadness. "Four dead, one injured." He placed his weapon back in his belt. "That's what I tried to tell you. The only way we're getting out of this is by killing the others."

"Yeah I know but it seemed so easy for you."

He started walking towards her. "Watching it on TV's not the same as seeing it live. You can't smell the blood and shredded organs."

She started backing away again and nodded. "Maybe you were right. We should split up for a while."

"Kat?"

She held up her hands. "Look, I'll meet you here in a couple of days. I'll find us some water and game. You kill the Careers and get me the bow."

"Kat?"

She looked down at her feet. "You were right, I don't think I can do what you just did; not like that." She turned around and headed off towards the west.

Saint John said quietly, "Shit." Although he shouldn't have been surprised. The first time you see someone killed in front of you can be pretty shocking. That and the fact that she just saw someone she thought she knew kill a kid so coldly he'd be lucky if she ever talks to him again. He decided to give her the space she wanted hoping she came out of it quickly before someone found her. He went into his shelter and collected his gear. The invader had removed everything from his pack. He found the remains of one of his instant meals and the empty water jug. He could hear the quiet whisper of the aircraft coming to pick up the dead body. He needed to get moving before anyone else came by to investigate. He put on his pack and grabbed a green burlap sack that must have belonged to the kid he killed and headed after Katniss.

Saint John followed her path for a couple of kilometers before breaking off to the left. He continued slowly making as little noise as possible listening for anyone or anything else. It was about noon when he decided to take a break and go though the sack as well as what was left of his supplies. The medical kit, fishing gear and tape were still intact. One of his cheese bricks was about half eaten and one of the chocolate bars was gone. He pulled out the other water bottle and took two small drinks. He then went through the sack. Three apples, some dried beef strips and two plastic bottles of a red colored liquid. He opened one of the bottles and touched it with his finger. It felt oily. He smelled it and smiled. He could add two small bottles of kerosene to his inventory. He cut a piece of cheese from the half eaten brick, ate a strip of beef and took another drink of water. He put everything in his pack including the now empty sack and headed out again. After another hour of walking he found a small fast flowing stream that flowed into a shallow valley. She smiled, pulled out the plastic jug and filled it. He used the water purifying tablets, repacked his gear and headed down the valley. He carried the water jug and followed the stream. After another hour Saint John sat on a rock and drank the entire jug. He refilled it, treated it and then filled his metal bottle. He reorganized his pack putting the water at the bottom again and continued downstream. About mid afternoon he found a cave about 100 meters from the bank. He took off his pack, grabbed his axe and dagger and prepared to check out the cave. He let himself get fully prepared for battle. There were more than other tributes to worry about. The arena could hold anything from wolves to bears to mutated monsters. After a few seconds he stood at the left side of the entrance, closed his eyes and used his now sharpened hearing and smell to check out the cave. He couldn't hear anything and could only smell mold growing on the walls. He went in quickly sticking to the left side, like he'd been trained to clear rooms, and looked around. With his back to the rock wall he saw the cave was fairly deep and appeared to be made by water. It seemed like it was a natural formation and not created strictly for the game. She smiled and thought it would make a perfect base to operate from. He retrieved his pack and placed it at the back of the cave. He then went back out and looked around for a way of hiding it from anyone that might stumble across it. He spent the rest of the day and part of the night placing heavy rocks at the entrance. He sealed the cracks in the rocks with mud and mold he dug out of the walls. He paused long enough to watch the nightly death announcements. Two tributes died today, both were his. He looked at a grim picture of the boy he killed in front of Katniss. It read he was from district six and the girl was from ten. When he finished camouflaging the entrance it was too dark to get a good look at his handy work. He climbed into the cave, munched down one of the apples and drank lots of water. He refilled his jug, stashed everything in the back of his cave and left to follow the stream the rest of the way. He took his water bottle and the last chocolate bar with him. The stream eventually flowed into the lake at the far side from the Career's camp. He followed the lakes shoreline back towards the Career's camp and found a hidden area at the edge of the tree line where he could watch them unobserved. His enemies had been busy. They'd piled all the supplies and weapons from the Cornucopia in a pyramid a couple of hundred meters from the golden structure. The camp, a couple of tents and a few crates of stuff was at the lake shore. He saw a small boy sitting on a crate with a spear in his hands. He couldn't remember where the boy was from but he wasn't one of the Careers. He watched the tents for a while and noticed there was at least two people in one of them. Judging by the occasional movements he could see he guessed the pair wasn't sleeping. He smiled at the idea of pretty much everyone in the country watching two teens banging the hell out of each other. He wanted to get closer and see who was in the tent. With any luck it was Cato and Glimmer. He could sneak past the sentry, kill them both while in the tent and take the bow. Then he remembered his encounter last night; they had night vision. Besides if there were only two in the tent that meant there were three more out there somewhere hunting. Then there were the supplies. He wondered why they were just sitting there out in the open inviting someone to take whatever they want. He needed to get a better look but how. It would take most of the night to follow the tree line all the way around the field to the other side by the tribute platforms. He decided against it and move closer to the pyramid of supplies to use them as cover when someone ran out of the tent laughing. In the moon light he could tell it was a girl and she was naked. She jumped into the lake laughing. Then another came running out of the tent, a boy, also naked and followed her into the lake. He heard the boy yell, "What are you looking at?"

Saint John froze thinking for a second he had been spotted. Then he realized if he had been spotted the boy wouldn't yell that. He'd grab a weapon and come after him. Instead he noticed the sentry looked at the ground quickly.

The boy said, "I'll rip out your eyeballs. Better yet, your job's done, Cato wouldn't have a problem with us killing you three."

Saint John recognized the voice, the boy from District one, Marvel. Even in the dim light he knew the girl wasn't Glimmer or Clove; she had to be from four. Damn, he thought. They weren't his primary targets. In fact killing them wouldn't really help him at this point. The sentry was from District three. He wondered why they kept him alive and what did Marvel mean about his job being done. He racked his brain trying to figure out what was going on. District three was manufacturing. They built more or less everything Penam used from vehicles to tools to…then it came to him; they built weapons. More specifically they built the land mines they used to keep them on the pedestals until the game started. The boy must have somehow rearmed the mines and planted them around the pyramid. Saint John put his hand over his mouth to keep from being heard laughing his head off. What an idiot, he thought. Anyone who tried to steal the stuff would die but they'd also blast all the supplies to the moon. Katniss, him, and a few others could survive off the land but the Careers, they'd starve. His next plan started forming in his head; destroy the pyramid, steal their camp and do it right under their noses. The question was how. He had two small bottles of kerosene, not ideal for making Molotovs but beggars can't be choosers. He'd need something that would break on impact. Plastic wouldn't work, he needed glass bottles. He zipped up his coat and put the hood over his head. He looked at the tents longingly. He looked around again. He could knock out the sentry, grab a tent and a crate and take off while the other two were skinny dipping. Even if they saw him they were naked, he doubted they'd come after him like that. He was about to make his move when he heard another voice yell, "What the hell are you two doing?," from off to his left. Cato and the other two girls were approaching the camp. The two lovers ran out of the lake and ducked into the tent. Well, so much for robbing them blind, he thought. He wasn't ready to fight them six to one with only a small axe and a pair of knives. Besides, he still needed them to thin out the crowd some more. He slowly backed out of his hiding spot and made his way back to his cave. By the time he made it back home he was starting to shiver. He tore through his supplies looking for a way to get warm. He wrapped himself in the thin silver blanket and considered his options. He had a short term solution. He grabbed a few rocks and dug a hole in the floor of his cave. He poured about half of his kerosene into the hole and using the spark stick and the back of a knife lit it. The kerosene burned brightly without producing any smoke. He tossed the rocks into the fire held his hands out until it burned out. The rocks weren't hot but had absorbed enough of the heat to be warm. He placed the rocks inside his blanket and examined his spark stick. The spark stick wasn't made of flint but appeared to be made out of a powder. He took one of the rocks and ground some of it off onto a leaf. He then added a small amount of water and waited. A chemical reaction occurred that created a fair amount of heat. He smiled glad he still remembered chemistry as well as survival training that he couldn't remember where he learned it. Saint John ate another piece of beef, half an apple and waited for the sun to rise.

The next day he prepared for his next night. He set the rocks out in the sun to warm them. A fire would do a much better job but the smoke would give away his position. He then made a trap for anyone that found his home. A large branch buried in the side of the cave bent as far as he could get it. He taped several sharpened sticks to the branch and used some of his fishing line as a trip wire. Anyone springing the trap would have the sticks in their face. He collected some worms and used the hooks and remaining line to make fishing snares. He then headed back to his hiding spot to watch the Careers and refine his plan to make off with their camp. When he arrived he found someone else lying on their stomach watching his targets. He was sneaking up on the other, knife in hand ready to slit their throat when he noticed a few things that made him freeze. The other tribute was very small with curly, almost wild dark hair. He could also see a very small dark skinned hand on the ground. It was Rue. Saint John stood there trying to force himself to do what had to be done. He could kill her so quickly she wouldn't feel a thing but he couldn't get himself to do it. He moved in behind her, grabbed her head and put his hand over her face. He whispered in her ear, "Don't say a word, I won't hurt you."

He felt her nod in agreement and he removed his hand. He looked at the camp and lied there next to the young girl and watched for a while. A dark haired girl and the boy from three were standing watch while it appeared the others were sleeping. Just as he thought, the Careers hunted at night and slept during the day. Two sentries on guard during the day, one at night and he couldn't kill them without a cannon going off. The question was how to get enough of them far enough away so he could take out the sentries, steal their camp, destroy the supplies and get the bow and all before they could return. However, with most of them asleep he may not have to get them to leave. He just had to get past the guards, hit the tents and kill them before the guards to respond. If he could get the bow his archery skills were good enough that he could kill the guards. Even if he didn't Glimmer, Cato and hopefully Clove would be dead. It would mean he'd have to hunt the others down himself but he was beginning to question the logic of letting the Careers live in the first place. They were too much of a threat to Katniss. There was a problem and she was lying right next to him. He looked at the small girl and wondered what she would do if he moved on his targets. He doubted she would warn them but still he couldn't trust her. His death would bring her one step closer to getting home. He grabbed the back of her pants and started pulling her back away from the brushes. When they were clear he whispered, "Get out of here now and don't let me catch you again."

She looked at him with wide eyes. She pointed back at the field and shook her head.

He let go of her and she crawled back to the brushes. He followed and looked at her questioningly.

She pointed at the Cornucopia and mouthed, "Cato's there with the bow waiting. The boy from one and the girl from two are out hunting close by."

He nodded. The Careers sleep in shifts. The sentries are to lure him in so Cato or Glimmer can take him out with an arrow. There definitely smarter than they look. He pulled out the chocolate bar and tossed it to the girl. She picked it up her eyes even wider than before. Saint John whispered, "Thank you, remember what I said." He then left headed back into the woods. He walked through the woods taking a roundabout way to his cave just in case he was being followed. He cursed himself out for not having the balls to kill the young girl. He wondered what he was going to do if it came down to Rue, Katniss and him at the end. He found himself hoping someone else would take her out before he or Katniss had to. He'd been to their camp twice and both times he couldn't make an opportunity to take them out. He had to face the fact that he couldn't do this alone. She was right, they did work better as a team, he thought. He just hoped he hadn't destroyed the trust he'd made with her over the last few days. He checked his snares and found three small fish caught on the hooks. He took his catch to the mouth of the stream, built a fire and cooked them. He ate one and took the others to his cave. Then he remembered his rocks. He grabbed a few of the larger ones and the burlap sack and took them back to his fire. He built it back up, tossed the rocks in and hid far enough away to keep an eye out for anyone that came by. Once the rocks were beginning to sweat he pushed them into the sack and hurried them back to his cave. He tossed the hot rocks into the small pit and got settled in for the night. His little home was nice and warm, he wasn't going to freeze that night. There were no deaths that day but he more or less knew that already; no cannon fire. He thought up a plan for attacking the Careers with Katniss creating a distraction and drifted off to sleep. He was supposed to meet her at his old camp in the morning. He could tell her about his plan then and see what she had to say assuming she showed up.

The next morning he woke up coughing with his senses sharp and his body ready for a fight. He saw smoke coming in from the holes in the wall of his cave. He grabbed his weapons and looked through one of the holes wondering if someone was trying to smoke him out. The whole outside was a huge cloud of hazy smoke. Whatever happened it was much bigger than simply getting him out of his home. He grabbed his water bottle, medical kit and his cooked fish and headed out to make his meeting and maybe find the source of the smoke. The smoke seemed to become thicker as he got closer to the place he was to meet Katniss. He sat by the old lean to and waited until the sun was high. Most of the smoke had dissipated by then. He started getting worried that maybe all this smoke had something to do with Katniss and decided to go looking for her. He headed in the direction she went and walked for nearly three hours until he found the forest was almost burned to the ground. There was nothing downed, burned trees as far as he could see. He knew it had to be the Gamemakers. They must have been trying to stir things up and make the game more interesting. He had a horrible thought, maybe their target was Katniss. The last he saw she was heading in this direction. Then he realized if they had killed her he would have heard a cannon go off. He began looking around for tracks, any signs that someone had been there. He searched the area and found some broken tree branches heading away from fire. He followed the trail to a pool of spring water not far from his stream. He felt his muscles swell and his senses sharpen again. He wasn't sure why until he heard voices. He started moving towards them. He could make out a couple of girl and boys laughing cruelly. It was the Careers and judging by their laughing they had someone trapped. He approached the clearing slowly and saw his worst fears had come true. Katniss was in a tree with all five of the Careers surrounding it. Glimmer was trying to shoot her with arrows from the bow but not having much success. He felt himself smile when she pulled an arrow out of the tree and wave it at her attackers. He knew she couldn't hold them off forever. It took a lot of effort to launch a full assault on the Careers. He was still outnumbered five to one and they were better armed than he was at that moment. He would most likely end up dead or injured. Can't help someone if you're a casualty. He needed to give the Careers something more important to worry about then her. Perhaps now would be a good time to kill someone. He ran off to the Career's camp. He made no attempt to hide himself from the young sentry. The boy from three picked up his spear and tried to impale Saint John on it. He blocked the attack with his left hand and slugged the boy in the face with his right. The boy went flying off his feet and rolled to the ground unconscious. He tore down their camp grabbing everything and hiding it in the bushes where he and Rue had spied on them. He then walked over to the unconscious boy, pulled out his knife and buried it in his knee. The young boy woke up screaming in pain. He told the boy to yell for help and twisted the blade. The boy screamed louder begging for the others to help him. He ripped the blade out of the boy's knee and stabbed him in the throat. He twisted the blade again opening the wound causing it to bleed faster. It took less than a minute for the cannon to sound. Saint John took off into the woods and watched. Cato, Clove and the girl from four ran into the field and into the camp just in time to see the Capital remove the boy's body. They ran over to where their camp used to be and Cato started cursing his lungs out. It was funny to watch the guy to into a meltdown like that. It was time for Saint John to play the biggest bluff he could remember playing. He stepped out into the field and yelled, "Cato." Clove took one look at him and threw a blade. Saint John caught the blade, like he did the other two at the opening of the game. He held the blade up and asked, "Are we really going to do this again girlie?"

She was about to try again when Cato held up his arm stopping her. He looked at Saint John smiling viciously. "That's a nice trick, can you do that with an arrow?"

Saint John shrugged. "You want to find out?"

Cato pointed at his missing camp. "You're handy work?"

He laughed. "Yeah, but you did kind of push our time table up a bit."

"Our?"

"Yeah, our as in us. You didn't think you were the only ones who could create alliances did you?"

Cato laughed. "You expect me to believe you allied yourself with the other useless cattle around here? Even if you did they're hardly a threat to us."

Saint John nodded. "I agree, most of them are about useless. However, I wouldn't count the pair from eleven as useless."

Clove laughed. She sounded even more vicious than her partner. "You think that little girl that can jump through the trees can fight?"

"No, she's not much of a fighter but she is a great spy. How do you think I found out you sleep in shifts or that you mined your supply stash. I was really referring to her district partner. Now Thresh is a great fighter and with my help he's downright dangerous." That seemed to get their attention. They looked around to the drop off past the Cornucopia. They both looked at each other and then back at Saint John. For some reason they were completely ignoring the girl from four. They might be but Saint John wasn't. He was keeping a close eye on all three of them.

Cato looked at the ground and finally got to business. "Alright, you want something; what is it?"

"Isn't that obvious; I want Katniss. You let her go and we'll leave you alone tonight. More importantly we'll leave your supplies alone. If not we'll blow your stash to hell and kill all of you one at a time. None of you will live to see the dawn."

Cato and Clove looked at each other and laughed. Cato asked, "You really expected that to work?"

Saint John shook his head and smiled. "No but our conversation did give Thresh and Rue enough time to get away with your camp and get into position to take out Marvel and Glimmer you left watching Katniss." They looked towards the trees where they left the rest of their allies. Saint John wished a cannon would fire right about then just to prove the point. But since nothing happened he'd have to use words. "Guess you've made your call. Better watch your stuff and your backs tonight." Saint John took off into the trees and ran towards where they trapped Katniss. She was still up the tree but no one was trying to kill her at the moment. Cato and Clove arrived a few minutes later. He told them what had happened and that the girl from four was now at the camp guarding the rest of their supplies. The sun was going down quickly along with the temperature. The four of them decided to camp under the tree and watch each other until morning. Then they'd find a way to get Katniss. Saint John let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He'd bought them time. Hopefully enough time to get her out of this mess. He quietly made his way back to the spy perch and picked up the camp. Balancing everything on a couple of spears he carried them back to his cave. He packed everything in the back without going through it. All he was interested at that moment were weapons. He grabbed the two arrows Glimmer had shot at him a couple of days ago, another axe, and a spear and headed back to where the Careers were guarding Katniss. He watched waiting for one of them to leave the group but they all remained around that tree all night taking turns sleeping. If it wasn't for that damn cannon going off whenever someone died he could take them all in their sleep. The sun was coming up when he decided he'd have to make his move. He could see Katniss wrapped up in her sleeping bag. She appeared to be sleeping but hoped she wasn't. They'd have only one shot at getting her out of this and she'd better be ready to move when it happened. First he needed a diversion and the cannon would make a pretty good one. He silently moved back towards the supply stash and found the girl from four leaned up against a tree sleeping. He crept up to her pulled out his dagger and jabbed it into the right side of her neck to the hilt. She woke up and tried to fight him as he pushed the knife away from her tearing out her trachea and her arties with it. There was a reason it was the preferred method for silently taking out a sentry; it was quick. He heard the cannon go off and knew it was time to fight it out. His body made him ready for the biggest fight he'd been in yet. He heard screaming and saw three of the Careers running towards him. He ran out axes in both hands ready to kill all of them. But instead of coming at him they ran straight for the lake. He stopped and watched them all jump into the lake. He wondered what was going on when he felt something incredibly painful bite his leg. He slapped at it and felt another bite the back of his neck. He grabbed that one crushing it between his fingers. It was an insect, gold in color and about twice the size of a wasp. He felt more and more bites all over his body. Saint John ran into the woods trying to get to Katniss while more of them stung him. He stopped counting after ten and began to feel very ill. The arena started spinning around and his vision became blurred. His heart began racing as his body demanded more of his combat chemicals to fight the venom. He started twitching as his mind alternated between clear and fogged. The world around him became distorted in a sickening swirl of red and orange colors. He moved slower trying to clear his mind and remain focused on getting to Katniss. When he came through the brush he found her trying to shoot an arrow from a silver bow at him. He stopped for a second happy to see her out of the tree. Then he could hear someone coming behind him. He pushed Katniss over and yelled, "Get out of here, run!" He turned just in time to see Cato crash through the brush. He swung his axe at Cato's head but lost his balance and missed. Cato swung his sword hitting him across his stomach. Saint John barely felt the pain but he knew he was cut. He spun around throwing a reverse kick at his attacker hitting Cato with a glancing blow that was still hard enough to knock the Careers' leader off his feet. Saint John knew he was getting sicker. He was losing control of his body and had to escape or die. He staggered off as fast as he could until his legs gave out and he fell into a ditch.


	7. Chapter 7

Saint John laid in the ditch his body in searing pain and his mind full of nightmarish images of broken dead bodies, most of them not human. He felt his body convulse but could do nothing to stop it. When he woke up from the nightmares he had no idea where he was. Saint John tried to sit up but his body refused to move. He rolled over on his back stared up at the night sky. It took forever before he could move again. He checked his body and realized he was bleeding from a cut across his stomach below his ribs. He noticed there wasn't any organs hanging out which meant his abdominal muscles hadn't been cut. He sat up slowly and considered what was going on. He looked threw his pockets and found a medical kit. He used several bandages to cover his wound and tried to stand up. He thought this had to be a survival exercise of some kind. Phase two training could be very dangerous even fatal but starting out in one injured was extreme even for the Tau-Sai. What was worse was why couldn't he remember what had happened to him. Maybe that was part of the training, induce amnesia in the trainee and evaluate their response. He knew he couldn't just lie there. Survival exercises came complete with predators and getting eaten didn't sound like a good way to die. Besides they also had goals that had to be accomplished. He'd only have a finite period of time to get to end of the course. He forced himself to start walking, more like staggering away. He looked up at the moon and tried to decide where he should go. Instinctively, he started moving away from the moon. He got to a small valley before another wave of dizziness made him collapse again. He fell into the valley and passed out again.

A dark skinned man put his arm around him and said, "They're ready bro."

He looked at Snake, his long time friend and teammate, and replied, "How much?"

Snake looked back at the others in the bar all dressed in the same uniform as him and Snake were. "1500. That's about as much as were going to see this close to payday."

Saint John nodded. He picked up the small throwing axe off the table and took another drink. He then looked at the two wooden targets set up against the far wall. He frowned, there was only supposed to be one. He shook his head and said quietly, "You know I shouldn't drink so much when we do this."

Snake asked, "How many you see?"

"Two."

Snake laughed. "Only two; you haven't drunk enough. Aim for the middle of them."

Saint John nodded. He took aim at the space in between the two targets his intoxicated mind could see and let the tomahawk fly. The blade buried itself in the center of the target perfectly. He and Snake cheered. He staggered over to the large man holding the money and said, "Pay up bitch."

Instead of giving him the money the man hit Saint John right in his mouth. The entire bar exploded in violence as soldiers fought soldiers. After a while the fight died down and they all went to drinking themselves into stupors. The last thing Saint John remembered was going to bed with something that looked like a fish with legs.

In another dream he was waking up to someone knocking on the window of his quarters. He rolled over and held the blonde woman that was sharing his bed closer hoping the knocking would go away. The knocking didn't and the woman next to him sat up for a second moaned and lied back down. She said, "Snake's out there pressing his penis against the window."

He opened his eyes. The light coming in from the open shades was very annoying. He looked at her then towards the window of his sliding door thinking it was too early for this shit. He got out of bed and said, "It's too small to be Snake's penis."

As he walked naked over to the door she replied, "I don't know what's more disturbing, that his dicks bigger than that or that you can recognize it from a glance."

"Ha, ha, ha," and opened the door. He looked at his friends smiling face and asked, "What the hell do you want?"

Snake held up two brown fruits that looked like large bananas and replied, "Breakfast. Young lovers need lots of energy." He looked down and said, "Looks like you can use all the energy you can get."

Saint John took the fruit. "Everyone's a comedian this morning." He pushed his friend away from his door and closed it and the drapes blocking out the artificial sun light. He tossed the fruit at the woman, jumped back into bed and curled up next to her.

She held the exotic fruit in her hand, half as long as her forearm and too wide for her to wrap her fingers around it. She said in amazement, "His penis is really bigger than this?"

Saint John looked up at her and replied, "Will you get off Snake's dick?"

She smirked at him. "I'm not on his dick. I was on yours."

He rolled on his back and smiled. "Yes you were. Fond memories that was."

She hit him in the face with the fruit. "I don't know what's the bigger dick around here, Snake's or you?"

"Why thank you Ash, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

She elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow!" He rubbed his sore ribs not particularly surprised by her hitting him or how hard she could hit.

She took his hand and kissed it. "You know you ask for things like that right?"

He looked into the deep blue eyes of the first woman he'd ever loved. For some reason he remembered the first time he saw her on that biggest mission of their career. He couldn't see her eyes then. Her entire body was protected by her battle armor. He loved her then even though he'd hadn't see what she looks like yet. He reached up with his free hand and gently stroked her cheek. The memory made him smile. "True, true, true."

She stared back into his eyes with both desire and longing. "You always get what you want?" She started sucking on his finger tips.

He moved his hand to the end of the covers and lifted them. He glanced at her naked body and replied, "Normally yeah, but in this case I guess it's up to you."

She smiled, climbed on top of him pinning his arms above his head. "What if I want what I want and not what you want?"

He moved his hands suddenly breaking her grip. They wrestled for a few minutes laughing until he took her face in his hands. Saint John gently pulled her close to him and whispered, "All I want is what you want."

Next he was sitting in a chair his shirt off while some lizard face thing drew a diving flaming bird on his left shoulder. They called it the fire bird. It was their symbol. His first drop from orbit, what they called going down in flames, fresh in his mind. He made it. He was now one of the most dangerous highly trained human soldiers that ever lived. It was one of the happiest moments in his life.

Saint John opened his eyes not sure where he was or if it was really awake or in the middle of another dream. He was lying on his back in a shallow fast moving stream of water. He was freezing and soaked to his skin. His whole body hurt both from aching joints and burning wounds that seemed to be all over his body. He looked down and saw blood seeping out of poorly dressed belly wound. He peeled off the blood soaked bandages and saw a long cut across his stomach. The wound wasn't healing, it was festering full of puss and infection. He thought that shouldn't happen. His body was able to heal from most wounds very quickly. Also, his immune system should be able to fight off all forms of infection. He face felt warm even though he was shivering. He was also dizzy and nauseous. Again not good signs. He fought past the pain and forced himself to stand up. He looked for his pistol but only found two small axes and a few knives. His mind was still trying to grasp what was happening when he heard growling from behind him. He turned to see a small boy with two large dogs standing on either side. The boy was dressed exactly like he was, same shirt, same pants and jacket. There was something about the boy's clothes that meant something to his situation but he couldn't figure it out. The dogs looked like huge German Sheppards with dark, almost black fur. Then he realized they weren't dogs at all but wolves. The wolves started growling again, mouths snarling showing lots of sharp white teeth. The boy touched the wolves shoulders and they charged at Saint John. His combat instincts and training took over. The pain was gone. His muscles swelled and his nerves became faster. He pulled the axes from his belt and turned to his right. As the wolf on is left got close he swung his right arm around cutting the legs off that wolf. He then buried the blade into its shoulders driving it to the ground. He then side stepped to his left just as the one on his right leaped for him. He sliced open its belly spilling its organs all over the rocky ground. He then took quick aim and threw the axe from his right hand hitting the boy in the face killing him instantly. He jumped as the cannon sounded. Both wolves were mortally wounded but not dead. Frightening high pitched yelps of pain came from both of them. Saint John finished both of them off with blows to their heads. He wanted to collapse on the river bank but decided he had to recover his weapon. He staggered over the embankment and removed the axe from the boy's body. The boy looked like he was maybe 12 or 13. He still thought this had to be some kind of survival exercise but what training exercise would require him to kill a young kid like that. He thought maybe it wasn't a survival test or a simulation but a mission that had gone completely wrong. Either way he had to do whatever he had to to survive. His mind kept telling him that someone else was depending on him. He had to stay alive for them whoever they were. He went back to the river, took off his jacket and shirt and washed out his wound. Even though the thought of eating or drinking made him feel even sicker he had to try. He wondered if that was why the cut wasn't healing, maybe because he was starving. He put his face in the fast flowing river and drank. The water felt cool on his hot face. He sat back and waited to see if the water would stay down. He started to feel a little better so he decided to try to eat. Unfortunately, his lunch options were very limited. He looked at the dead wolves and started to remember his survival training. Organs, especially livers had the highest nutrient content of all other flesh. Cooking it was out of the question. Even if he had a way of building a fire something told him the smoke would lead others that wanted him dead right to him. The bodies hadn't been dead that long so the organs could still be alive. Living organs were somewhat less likely to poison you than ones that had been sitting rotting. He cut out a liver and ate it raw. The taste of blood, raw liver and the smell along with his sickness made him vomit but he kept eating. He finished the first one than carved out the other and ate that too. When he finished puking he drank more water from the lake. The dizziness came back with a vengeance and forced him to crawl back to the bank before he passed out again.

He heard a huge explosion and he was standing in a field wearing a sealed armored suit watching everything around him burn. Glowing streaks of light rained down from the sky incinerating everything they touched. He felt satisfied by what he was witnessing. This was exactly what he wanted to happen. No not what he wanted but what had to happen. What he and the others like him had been ordered to make happen. He keyed up his suits communication system and said, "37 form up for extraction."

He heard five voices reply, "Copy," one at a time. Soon he was surrounded by six other people wearing armored suits like his. Four of them carried short rifles. One carried a hand held auto cannon and the last had a large sniper rifle cradled in her arms. Constellation 37 was his team and while he didn't like this particular mission he was proud of his team's performance. A large oblong shaped vessel appeared above the team and pulled them into his belly.

In between horrid nightmares of both the dead and living calling for his blood he'd wake up freezing. It took all the strength he had in him to pull the corpses of the wolves he'd killed over around him to try to keep warm. He woke to a pair of large gun blasts going off in the middle of the day. He tried to sit up and passed out again. A man's voice woke him up again. The voice said something about the rules being changed. Somehow he knew that was significant to his situation but his mind couldn't focus on what that meant. Saint John rolled over the dead wolves and right into the shallow creek. He crawled through the mud along the creek trying to get to a cave he knew existed. As he crawled one name kept coming to his mind. He found himself calling out "Katniss" every now and then. Finally he'd gone as far as he was going to go. Instinctively he covered himself in the mud in an attempt to hide his presence and surrendered to more dreams of rape, destruction and murder.

He woke again so cold he could barely move to the sound of someone quietly walking towards him. He waited until he thought the person was right next to him and tried to strike. It took all his strength to just grab an ankle. He felt the ankle jerk from his grasp and heard a bow being pulled back. Then a familiar voice called out his name, "Saint John?"

He struggled to open his eyes and focused on what to him was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. He managed to weakly say, "Hey, Kitten. Hope you're doing better than I am right now."

He almost smiled when she scowled at him and replied, "Don't call me Kitten." She bent over and started to help him.

Suddenly he remembered they were being hunted by others. He gathered all his strength, pushed her away and said, "Get out of here before someone finds you."

Katniss regained her balance and seemed a little surprised by the strength of his shove. She moved towards him, said, "I'm not leaving you," and started to help him again.

"I'm already dead, just get out of here." This time when he pushed at her she used a block he taught her to deflect his shove.

She growled, "You're not going to die, not now. I'm not going to let that happen."

He didn't have the strength to fight her anymore. She filled her water jugs and washed the mud and muck off his clothes. As she took off his jacket she asked, "How bad are you hurt?"

He felt himself start to go out again. He closed his eyes and concentrated on staying awake. He replied, "Laceration across my stomach from Cato's sword. Not too deep but it's infected. I'm dizzy, weak, can't stay conscious and I'm having horrible dreams even hallucinations. Possibly from the infection." Saint John shook his head feeling even dizzier and tried to sit up. When he fell back down he said, "I shouldn't be this sick, not from a single cut." He felt Katniss feel around his neck and then a sharp pinch that made his face grimace. He could hear her chew on something for a few seconds then something warm and sticky against his skin where the strange wasp had stung him. The pain in his neck started to go away almost immediately.

He heard Katniss ask him something but the relief from some of his pain distracted him. He looked back at her. "Sorry?"

"Have you been stung anywhere else?"

It took Saint John a few seconds for her question to register in his mind. His hand went to his left leg. "There, some big gold colored wasp or bee of something stung me."

"Tracker-Jackers, that's what's causing your hallucinations. Their venom does nasty things but usually its out of your system in a day or two." He helped him undo his pants and lower them so she could get to his sting. He was thinking about what it would be like to sleep with her as she pulled out the stinger and applied more chewed leaves to his sting. Again he felt relief to the pain in his leg. She felt her pull up his shirt. She removed the dressing from his stomach wound, turned away and vomited into the creek. He looked down at the exposed wound and saw several small pale worm like creatures crawling in the wound. After a few seconds she recomposed herself and turned back towards him. Her face grim with determination she started to dig the larvae from his gash.

He stopped her. "Leave them. Maggots are good for treating infected wounds. They consume dead flesh and secrete a chemical that can fight infection."

She stared at him like he'd completely lost his mind. After a few seconds she asked, "How the hell do you know that?"

"Survival 101. Sometimes you don't have access to modern medicine and you have to improvise; live off whatever you can find." He could tell by the look on her face that she believed him but really wanted to know where he'd learned it. His mind was beginning to clear again only this time he was also remembering things he didn't before. He could picture the face of his survival instructor, a grizzly, severe looking woman with a surprising sense of humor. She told him that as long as a human has oxygen to breathe they could find a way to survive anywhere for at least three days. In three days a recovery team would locate and extract them. They just had to keep thinking about staying alive for one minute longer because that could be the minute they could be found. Only that wasn't the case this time. His survival wasn't important. It wasn't his mission. He smiled at her. "Look, thanks for helping me but you need to leave now." She started to object. He held up his hand to stop her. "Walk away Kat, being here with me makes you vulnerable. Besides its better this way. You already have your bow, you can hide in some tree somewhere and pick the rest off. You don't need me anymore."

"I already told you I'm not letting you die, not now." She pulled his pants back up and roughly helped him to his feet. She made him lean on her as they walked along the creek for a couple hundred meters. He tried to fight her but didn't have the physical strength or the will. She half carried him into a cave. He knew this wasn't the right place and kept telling her this was the wrong cave. It was obvious she had no idea what he was talking about and to be honest he wasn't sure what he was talking about either. She lied him down at the back of the cave and placed a black sleeping bag around him. Saint John lost conscious again the moment his head hit the ground.

He slept peacefully for the first time in days. When he woke a few hours later he was tucked into the black sleeping bag. He felt around and realized his wound had been redressed again and his clothes were missing. His vision was clear and his mind wasn't clouded. He still felt sick and a little dizzy but nowhere near as bad as he had been. He looked around the cold damp cave but didn't see any sign of Katniss. He called out to her and she appeared at the entrance holding his clothes. He smirked at her and asked, "Did you like what you saw?"

Katniss looked at her feet and started to blush. She replied, "Guess your teasing me is a good sign." She looked back at him and threw his clothes hitting Saint John in the face. "Your clothes were disgusting. I covered you with the sleeping bag before I took your shorts."

Saint John examined his wet clothes. They were more or less clean. He smiled back at her. "Sure you didn't peek? Wouldn't blame you if you did. I would have."

She scowled at him and replied with an indignant tone, "No I didn't peek." Her look softened slightly. "And you wouldn't have either."

She was right, he wouldn't strip her in her sleep unless he thought she was badly wounded but that didn't mean he was going to let her off easy. He glanced back at her with a mischievous smile. "You sure about that."

"Yeah I think I know you well enough to know you wouldn't hurt me."

His eyes narrowed at her. While she was still right his newly resurfaced memories were telling him something very different. Assuming those were real memories and not delusions. He wondered how some 16 year old girl that had never left her home before now could know him better than he knew himself. He started smiling again. Teasing her was a lot of fun and it did make him feel better.

She left the entrance and came towards him slowly. "When was the last time you ate?"

Saint John had to think for a few minutes. He didn't remember the last time he ate or even drank anything. "Not sure."

She pulled out a small piece of old meat wrapped in plastic from her pack and tried to hand it to him. Saint John took one look at the meat dry heaved. He looked away from the food and asked, "What the hell is it?"

She pulled it back and replied, "Groosling. That's what Rue called it." She reached through her pack and pulled out a couple pieces of dried apple. "Here." She handed him the water bottle he gave her. "Drink this too."

Saint John choked down the apple and took a couple of small drinks. She then handed him a couple of pills from her first aid kit and told him to take them. Saint John swallowed the pills with a little more water. He lied back for a few seconds to rest. Once he gathered a little more strength he started to get dressed under the sleeping bag. Katniss turned away and started to leave. Saint John didn't want her to leave. Well, he did want her to leave. Leave him alone in the cave to die while she found someplace to hide and wait for the surviving tributes to get within range of her bow. He just didn't want her to walk outside and wait for him in the open. He thought of a subject that might keep her around. "So, you've seen Rue; how is she?"

Katniss didn't turn back to him. She froze at the cave entrance silent for several seconds. She finally said without looking back, "Rue's dead. The boy from one killed her with a spear."

Saint John felt a rage come over him. A rage that no amount training or discipline could control. He growled, "I'm ending this now," stood up and passed out again.

He heard a soft female voice calling his name. His mind struggled to regain conscious. When he opened his eyes he was looking into the dark blue eyes of a woman he dreamed was dead. He reached out with his right hand to touch her face. "Hey, Ash. You wouldn't believe the dreams I've been having."

The woman scowled. "Who's Ash?"

He blinked and the woman changed from soft pale skin, blue eyes and long straight blonde hair to a younger girl with darker skin, light grey eyes and her long dark hair tied into a single braid. Reality came crashing down on him. All the kids he'd killed in the last few days, being cut open by Cato, being sick and dying from infection and the murder of that small brave girl Rue. The only thing that brought him any comfort was his promise to another little girl and his friends. He looked into Katniss' eyes and replied, "Ashley Galawas, a girl I knew a long time ago." Then he remembered the entire situation. He pushed her away again and said, "Kat, you have to go now. Stay on the move, don't present them a target. Wait until the others are hurt, weak and starving then bring the fight to them one at a time and win the game. Let me go. It'll be easier on both of us this way."

Katniss didn't give him her usual scowl. At first she looked incredibly sad like she was going to cry. Then her face turned to rage. She yelled, "Why are you trying to get rid of me…." She stopped in mid-sentence and studied him for a few seconds. Her look changed back to sadness. She asked, "You don't know? You didn't hear the announcement?"

"What announcement?"

Katniss sat down next to him and leaned close to his face. "Saint John, they changed the rules. If were the last two left they'll let us both win."

It took a second for what she said to sink in. Then the questions started. He wondered why the Gamemakers would change the rules half way through the game. Public pressure maybe or perhaps they had a soft spot for young love. Did everyone believe something he wasn't even certain was true? Could he be that convincing? He felt the dark cave start to spin again as another wave of dizziness overcame him. He closed his eyes and laid his head back down. As he waited for that attack of sickness to lessen he mind continued to speculate why the rules were changed. Mercy and compassion didn't seem like traits humans had anymore. He believed he figured it out Just as he began to feel better. He smirked but not out of happiness but finality. It was a television show, they had to make the end entertaining. He said quietly to himself, "Good job Saint, nice job of overplaying your hand. Could you possibly screw this up anymore?"

Katniss was kneeling next to him when she asked, "What did you say?"

Saint John thought, "Well, that's how you can screw this up even more, by taking all hope away from her." The young girl couldn't know they were being set up. To be honest he didn't know they were being set up. It just made sense to him. The Gamemakers get them to fight as a team thinking they can both get out and when it comes down to them they make then fight it out against each other for the crown. He smirked and decided to go back to his old standby with women; teasing. He smirked wider and replied, "Well, I thought you were risking yourself because you liked me."

To Saint John's surprise Katniss leaned over and kissed him on the lips. The kiss was soft, gentle, pleasant but not really what he'd expect from a potential lover; it was more like a kiss you'd get from you sister or mother. Katniss let the kiss linger for a few seconds but she was hesitant. After all it was the first time she'd ever kissed a boy. As for Saint John, it wasn't his first kiss. He could even begin to count the number of times he'd kissed a girl or even the number of girls he'd kissed. But there was something else about this kiss. Something about the girl that made his heart pound and his head swim. Unlike the dizziness his infection was causing, this feeling was very welcome. When she finally broke the kiss he found himself wanting more, a lot more.

Katniss smiled shyly redness showing in her cheeks. "Who said I didn't?" She reached in her pack and gave him a small bag of dried fruit and picked up her water jug. "Here eat, I'll get us some more water."

He watched her leave the cave feeling even more confused about his feelings for her than he did before. Feelings can be confusing under the best of circumstances and this was about as bad as it could get. He closed his eyes and tried to let his confusion go. Katniss came back in the cave and said a little too loudly, "Look what Haymitch sent you."

He smiled at her. "A bottle of whiskey?"

She smiled back. "No soup."

He laid back and closed his eyes. "Good, hope its chicken."

She frowned and looked down at the small shiny metal pot. "Not sure." She looked back at him. "Didn't know you liked chicken."

He laughed and then cringed from the pain. "It's not bad but chicken soups supposed to heal you." Saint John suddenly remembered something from his past and laughed again starting more spasms of pain shooting through his body. "Goldie said her grandma's chicken soup was so good it could bring back the dead."

She sat down next to him, opened the pot and pulled out a small spoon. "Well, let's hope its chicken," and started to feed him the broth. It wasn't chicken but still tasted pretty good. Even better Saint John was able to keep it down.

When he'd finished his broth he smiled at his young care giver. "That was nice, thanks. Kat you'd make a hell of a mother someday." Saint John closed his eyes and passed out again.

When Saint John opened his eyes again he actually felt worse. His head was pounding and he could tell his fever was higher. He looked around the cave for Katniss but she was nowhere to be found. He was about to call out to her when she came in carrying the small pot the broth arrived in last night. He let his relief show on his fac. "There you are. I thought someone got you. Who's left by the way?"

She knelt by him holding the pot and the small spoon again. "Berries, here eat."

Saint John ate without complaint. To be honest the berry mush wasn't too bad. When he finished he asked again, "Kat, who's left?"

"Both from two, Foxface and Thresh as well as us; six in all."

Saint John sat back and thought. Six left. Three quarters of the Tributes are dead. 18 young kids that will never grow up. He tried to remember how many died at his hands; six, seven, eight. He looked up at an exhausted Katniss and gave up trying to figure out his body count. "When was the last time you slept?"

She looked down at her feet letting her fatigue show. "I'm alright."

He looked at the dark circles under her eyes, her trying to fight back a yawn and replied, "Like hell you are." Saint John straightened out the sleeping bag making a place for her to lay down and held out his arm to her. "Lay down before you fall down. I'll stand watch." Then he thought about it and smiled. "Well, ok maybe I would do much standing but I can lay here and keep an eye open. I'll wake you if anyone comes by so you can be the warrior heroine and save my sick ass."

Katniss took his arm and lied down next to him. She stretched out on the sleeping bag and looked at him with a smirk on her face. "Saving you has been a full time job lately."

Saint John pushed himself up to a sitting position with his back against the cave wall and shook his head smiling. Their cave home was secure or they'd been hit by now. The arena was pretty big and with only six players left it was very unlikely another tribute would just stumble onto them. So basically they were about as safe as they could be. It was time for her to rest and maybe have a little fun at his expense. He could take it as well as give it. "If I'm such a burden you could always dump me back in the creek?"

She closed her eyes. "Too much work." She rolled over moving until her back was pressed against his hip. "Maybe after my nap."

Saint John started lightly stroking her long hair and humming a song. It took a few minutes for him to realize he was humming and the last time he thought of that song. He's sung it to Ashley their last night together before she left on the mission she'd never return from. Feelings of sadness and loss began to overwhelm him. He could feel tears begin to fall down his cheeks. The worst thing about suddenly remembering his life was having to mourn friends and lovers that had died all over again. He closed his eyes and tried to bury those feelings as far down as he could. Emotions were a part of being human. Besides emotions controlled properly can be very useful. Controlled fear can keep you alive, it makes your senses sharper and more aware of danger around you. Controlled anger can focus aggression making attacks more efficient and effective. And then there's love. Love of your comrades and those you protect can keep you going long after you would have given up. However, sadness, depression and despair had no use on a battle field. Besides, he'd have plenty of time to feel depressed when he was dead and at the rate things were going that would be in a few days at most. Saint John decided to take his mind off his depression and check his wound. He looked at the puss filled swollen slice across his belly and thought it might not have been the best way to try to feel better. He looked closer trying to see if the maggots were still in there but couldn't find any. He smiled when he thought his infection was so bad it choked maggots. Humor was the best cure for depression. Even when the humor was over how screwed you were. He used the old dressing to wipe off the puss and that was when he noticed a dead maggot in the green sticky goo. He started to piece the situation together and felt a little better. His immune system was blowing out the infection. The puss was the result of his body's war against bacteria. The maggots were also invaders to his body and as such also dispatched. Generally speaking his enhanced immune system wouldn't have even allowed such an infection to take hold let alone progress this far. In this case weakened from injury and lack of food he didn't know how long it would take for him to be combat ready again. He washed out the wound and redressed it. While sipping some water he suddenly had a craving for a cheeseburger, thick and blood rare. Or a steak again so rare it could almost be called raw. And spinach, raw green spinach. And bananas, no banana smoothies, he wanted a banana smoothie for some reason. Hunger was a good thing, it meant he was beginning to feel better but the cravings why crave these things. For some reason it reminded him of the title of one of Doug Adams books and quietly laughed painfully. He really doubted there was a restaurant at the end of the arena but the idea was absurdly funny to him. He thought of why he would have cravings for certain foods and it came to him. He wanted protein. Or more specifically his body needed protein to heal. It also needed iron and potassium which explained the spinach and bananas. Well short of finding that restaurant there was no way he was going to find any of this stuff here. Or maybe he would. Saint John suddenly remembered the other cave and the stuff he had stashed in there. His pack which had dried meat, blocks of cheese and the instant meal. The burlap sack that had fruit and the stuff he stole from the careers camp. The tent spears and more importantly the case which had to have some food in it. He thought about waking Katniss up and telling her about the other cave. It was bigger and possibly more defendable. He looked down at the young woman curled up next to him sleeping and couldn't wake her. She needed her sleep and it wouldn't take him long to go to the other cave, grab the stuff he needed and return. There was still a risk, a great deal of risk. If their cave or the other cave were being watched then someone would know Katniss was alone once he left. But the fact that both caves were in a river valley made clandestine surveillance very difficult. He crawled to the cave entrance and looked though the camouflage Katniss had made to hide it. After several minutes of seeing nothing moving around he risked crawling out into the daylight. Armed only with the folding knife, primarily because he didn't think he was strong enough to use anything bigger he made his way to the creek. Using the rushing water to cover his tracks he made his way down river to his old cave. Once there he slowly made his way up the embankment and stopped at the right side of the hidden entrance. He reached in the disarm his trap and realized the spike covered branch had already been released. He paused for a few seconds and listened for any signs of anyone occupying the cave. He couldn't hear anyone but wasn't about to place his trust in that alone. He ripped down the camouflage entrance, drew his knife and rolled into the cave ready to fight. It took a great will of effort to not scream every curse and profanity he'd ever heard at the top of his lungs. It wasn't because of anything or anyone in the cave but because of what was no longer in the cave. His pack was gone as was the sack and the tent he stole from the career's camp. The crate he took was open and the only thing he found in it was a couple of knives, a rather large double bladed battle axe, like something from the middle ages, and a couple of lanterns. He started to wonder who had raided his cave but decided he didn't have time to figure it out right then. Whoever it was he didn't think it was the careers because they'd left the weapons behind. He looked around but it had been picked pretty clean. The only thing that seemed to have been left was the bottle of kerosene that must have fell out of his pack when the thief had taken it. He tossed it into the crate and ignoring the pain in his stomach carried it along with the spears to the creek. He dragged it upriver to his new home. He made it to the entrance and found a very angry Katniss sitting there waiting for him. She was starting to yell at him when Saint John put his hand on her mouth. "Someone's been following me. They found the cave I hid the career's camp in and took all the food. They could be out there watching us now."

Katniss nodded. She pushed him rather roughly back into the cave and tossed the crate in after him. Arrow notched and ready she slowly climbed both river banks looking for any signs of intruders. She found no one but walking on the flat rocks wouldn't leave a trail for her to see. She went down stream and found a couple of small footprints in some loose dirt; footprints that someone had tried to remove. She studied the footprints trying to figure out where the maker was coming from and where they were going. She looked at where he believed the maker had gone from the creek but decided tracking them any farther would lead her too far away from an injured Saint John. Besides, she owned him an ass chewing for leaving her alone in the cave to get more weapons they didn't need. She climbed back down the embankment intending on heading back to her cave but stopped. She decided to move downstream to look at the other cave herself. She had to admit Saint John did a pretty good job of hiding the entrance. Then she took a look at the trap he'd set and got a little worried. The only way someone could have known about it would be seeing him setting it up. He was right someone had to be following him. The cave was also better than the one she found, bigger and offered better protection from the elements but there was no way they could use it now. She searched the entire cave and found a couple of things Saint John missed but still it wasn't worth his risking his life and hers. She collected the stuff she found and went back to let him know exactly how she felt.

Saint John landed on his hands and feet feeling more than a few waves of pain wash over him. I think she's a little upset with me, he thought. Saint John made his way over to the sleeping bag rolled onto his back and looked down at his blood soaked bandages covering his stomach. He sighed. "Shit, that explains the pain." He pealed the bandages off to get a better look at exactly how bad he screwed up. All his movement and dragging the crate around tore open all his clots and now the blood was free flowing running across his belly and onto the rock floor. The smell of rotting flesh and fresh blood nearly made him gag. He washed away the blood and green goo and knew there was no way he could seal it up with a simple bandage anymore. He was going to need to stitch it up or it would be days before it healed again, if ever. He crawled back over to the crate to see if there was anything he could use to close the wound. He filled the lantern but didn't have anything to light it with. If he could get one of the knives hot enough he could use it to cauterize the wound closed. That would stop it from bleeding and maybe deal with some of the infection but the question was how to get a blade red hot with nothing more than a campfire assuming he could get one lit. He leaned back against the cave wall and willed himself to stay awake. He was nearly out when he heard someone come up to the entrance. He grabbed the small axe and realized he didn't have the strength to use it. He was about to scream to Katniss not to return to the cave when he noticed that wouldn't be necessary.

Katniss came in fuming mad. "What the hell do you…..Oh my God!" She crawled to him taking off her jacket and tried to use it to stop the bleeding.

He pushed it away. "It's not going to do much good, the wounds bleeding too much now. It needs to be sealed."

She ignored him and pressed her jacket into the wound. She gave him a worried look and asked, "OK, how do we do that?"

"Stitch it or burn it." He started to lean forward again.

Katniss pushed him back to the wall. "Just stay there and behave." She wiped away the seeping blood and studied the wound. After a few seconds she asked, "Alright, what do we need to fix it?"

He looked down at the large gash and replied, "It's too big to use a hot knife, we'd need a field cauterizing kit."

She frowned at him. "What's that?"

He was about to explain how a small high intensity laser could be used to almost weld his skin together and stop the bleeding but remembered where he was. The entire country, including her, would wonder how a boy from an outer district would know about such things. Instead he said, "Nevermind." He considered his options and said, "I need to stitch it up."

"Yeah, so how do we do that?"

Good question, he thought. He considered what they had at their disposal. He looked at his coat and said, "I need some waterproof thread. I could weave something from a piece of the coat but I still need a needle."

Katniss' eyes widened. "How about fishing hooks and line?"

"Yeah, that would work. Too bad whoever stole my food and the tent got my fishing kit."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the fishing kit he got from the back pack he stole from the girl. He was about to ask where she got it from when she said, "It was in the back of that cave along with this." She then pulled out a small plastic case and a bottle of clear fluid. "You should have checked the cave a little closer."

He held out his hand and she gave him the objects. "I should have stayed here. You shouldn't have gone there. That cave's been compromised; we can't go back there."

"I checked around, like you taught me. Whoever's been watching you either lost you or thought you were going to die and left. There's no one around us."

He was going to say that she couldn't be sure they were clear. You can't learn about sweeping and clearing a area by listening to someone talk about it; you had to do it. In fact you had to do it several times to be effective at it. He thought against it for several reasons. First, she wasn't exactly inexperienced at sweeping an area. Katniss was the best hunter he'd ever seen, far better than he was at her age. Hunting was just like checking for observers; harder even because most animals are better at hiding than humans. Secondly, he had to keep her morale and hope up; you don't do that by pointing out their flaws. Lastly, he could really give her grief about doing exactly what he did. He simply nodded and looked through the case. It was a medical kit with more bandages, self adhering tape and more clotting ointment. The bottle was alcohol. He smiled and said, "Ok, I'm going to need your help."

First he asked Katniss to get two big rocks and when she returned he had her break off the barb of one of the fishing hooks. While she was bashing the hook between the rocks he poured a small amount of the alcohol on his wound to satirize the area. The pain made him grit his teeth. She then handed him the broken hook. He spit on a rock and rubbed the hook against it to smooth it out and sharpen it. He then tied the line to the eye on the hook and had Katniss beat it against the rocks again gently to flatten the eye. He then the whole thing down in alcohol and began sowing his wound up. He had Katniss watch as he made two stitches and then asked her to finish. It hurt him too much to sit up and sow his own wound. He needed to lay back and let her do it for him. She started to object. He held up his hand and nearly begged, "This hurts Kitten; don't make me sow myself up."

She hesitantly took the hook and got to work. He watched her hands shake as the makeshift needle punctured his skin. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the small, excruciating needle stabs. When she was about half way through he asked her to tell him a story.

She looked at him frowning. "I'm busy."

He replied through gritted teeth, "We both need a distraction."

She looked back at her work. "What kind of story?"

"Something happy."

After a few seconds she asked, "Did I ever tell you how Prim got her goat?"

He looked at her questioningly. "Prim's got a goat?"

She looked up at him confused for a second before realization came over her face. "That's right, you've never been in the Seam. You've never seen my house."

He shook his head even thought it wasn't completely true. He'd walked through the Seam late at night making clandestine deliveries of things people needed; mostly medications for sick children. He'd seen Gale's when sneaking medicine into the water to help his brother Rory when he had the measles. But he'd never had the need to go to Katniss' home.

Katniss told him about how she brought a injured goat from a man that was trying to sell it to the butcher. By the time she finished her story she'd finished sowing him up. He told her to apply the clotting compound to the wound and bandaged it up. When she was finished he asked, "Does she still have the ribbon?"

Katniss stared at him for a few seconds like she didn't know what he was talking about. She then smiled and replied, "No, it fell off a couple of days later."

He sat back, took a deep breath and relaxed. "That was nice. Thank you."

Katniss replied with a slightly indignant tone, "It was more than nice. That goat's paid for itself several times over."

He opened his eyes and laughed. He winced from the pain. "Yeah and the fact that it brought happiness to your sister had nothing to do with it."

She started to frown and more away towards the entrance. He took her hand. "Kat, you never have to explain kindness. Only a fool mistakes kindness for weakness. It takes more strength to be kind than to be cruel."

She surprised him by moving closer and kissing him. This kiss was soft like the last one but less hesitant like she was getting more sure of herself. When she stopped she said, "You need food."

"I was trying to get some food when I ripped my gut open."

She pulled out more of the several day old grousling she tried to give to him the day before. He turned away thinking it looked even worse than the day before. She smiled and went through her pack. When she looked back up she said, "I'm going to make you some soup."

He shook his head. "Don't make a fire; it's not worth it."

She placed her finger on his lips and replied, "Let me worry about that." She grabbed the pot the broth was in and started to leave. She turned back and said, "By the way its your turn. I expect a story when I get back." And she was gone.

"Alright dumbass now what?", he asked himself. With most of his memories back he had lots of stories. Funny stories about having fun with his friends and comrades. Happy stories about growing up in the woods near his home. Forests not that different from the one that surrounds District twelve. But mostly he had horrific stories of things he had to do for those he served. He looked down at his bare chest and stomach. The young woman did a real good job stitching him up but he was more surprised by how thin and young he looked. Thin he understood, he hadn't eaten much lately and healing took a lot from a body but he looked like he did back home. A home he promised he'd never return to unless ordered to. The tattoo and scars were still there, faded over time but still there. He knew his masters had the power to make humans young again but he never thought he'd live long enough to see it. He laid back and thought about what he was going to tell Katniss. He still wanted to tell her the truth, he wanted to tell her everything. But he also knew they weren't alone here, everything he told her the rest of the country would know. He let his secrets out and there was a very good chance that the Capital would kill them were they stood. Also mostly likely take out their home as well. It was a good thing creativity was one of his skills. He used to write stories in his spare time as a way of dealing with the stress of his life. So by the time Katniss returned from making her soup he'd come up with a believable and entertaining story to tell her.

Katniss came in the cave, placed the camouflage so they were still hidden and crawled over to him smiling. "Soup's cooking. So, you got a story for me?"

He held out his right hand to her. When she took it he directed her to his left side and let her sit down at his left side. He placed his arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her closer to him. She resisted for a few seconds but eventually curled up next to him her head on his shoulder. He looked over at her and brushed a few loose strands of hair from her face. He looked into her light grey eyes and smiled. The smile faded when he started remembering other girls that had been in that same spot next to him. Girls that no longer lived except for one and she was not the smartest move he could have made. It's never a good idea to sleep with a teammate. Katniss was different, she wasn't a soldier. She didn't belong here and seeing her like this soft and vulnerable renewed his commitment to getting her out of this. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Remember what I said about warfare." She looked at him questioningly for a second and nodded. He laid back again and said, "I guess it's about time you learned about my past, as much as I can remember anyway," and began his story to her.

He told her that his first memory was of him running through the woods in the dark. There was the glow of a huge fire behind him but he couldn't look back. He ran faster and faster like something was chasing him. The branches hitting his arms and face leaving small cuts all over him. Then he remembered falling and nothing. The next thing he remembered was waking up in a bed with an old woman in the room. She had long silver hair and wore a simple blue dress. She smiled warmly when he opened his eyes. "Hi there, we were worried when we found you. Can you tell me your name?"

He told her he didn't remember his name at that time. He was all of twelve years old and had no idea who he was or where he came from.

The old lady just smiled. "That's ok, it'll come back to you in a while." She then placed a tray in his lap with some roasted rabbit, steamed vegetables and fresh bread. "Here, eat and when you're done if you're feeling up to it I'll introduce you to the others."

He told Katniss that the old woman, everyone called her grandma, cared for six orphaned children in her small house outside the town. He told Katniss that the woman had one of the biggest collections of books and music anyone had ever seen. She taught him how to read and he read nearly every book in her collection. There were books on history, philosophy, medicine and classic literature; all of it written before the disasters that created the country known as Panem. The other children came from many different Districts. They taught him how to fight and helped him create some of his criminal contacts. The children made money for Grandma by stealing, smuggling and underground fighting. Then one day Grandma was gone along with all her books and music. He and the other children started working for criminals like a tough man from District one everyone called Vile.

Vile wasn't a lie. He was the worst kind of criminal, cruel, vicious and greedy. Saint John told Katniss that when he found out he was sending some of the children to be used by his clients he left. The truth was soon after arriving in Panem Saint John attempted to find out where he was and ran into a couple of Vile's enforcers. Saint John sent them back to the criminal in bags. More came after him which he also killed until one day Saint John had enough and took the fight to Vile. He killed Vile and most of his crew; it wasn't a difficult task. By doing so he opened the door for a woman from District four named Sasha to take over Vile's smuggling operations. That was Saint John's main contact in the underworld of Panem. It's a good thing when a criminal leader thinks they owe you. It's better when they fear you as well.

He continued telling her about his life going from District to District surviving by theft and fighting for money until he found himself in twelve. There was something about the woods around twelve that he remembered and later realized he might have been born there. It was all a lie. He wasn't from any of the Districts but he couldn't admit that there. Even though he'd admitted to committing crimes he hoped that being a child along with already being in the arena might keep the Capital from coming after him. By the time he finished his story he noticed Katniss was sleeping next him. He ran his left hand across her back. She moved closer to him placing her head on his bare chest. He smiled enjoying the feeling of her closeness to him. He looked at her for a while until he started to doze off.

Saint John woke to a stabbing pain in his stomach. He looked around the dark cave reaching for his knife but there was no one around. He cursed himself out for falling asleep on watch. He set the knife aside and careful not to disturb the still sleeping Katniss at his side peeled a corner of the dressing away from his wound. The swelling had gone down along with most of the redness. The sutchered skin had already started to seal around the stitches. That was causing his discomfort. He breathed a sigh of relief. His body's enhanced healing properties were asserting themselves. He began to think why it didn't work before and realized it had to be the Tracker-Jackers. The venom from the little genetically created bugs must have interfered with his immune system and blocked his ability to heal. He figured one maybe two days of rest and he'd be as good as new; assuming he could get some food in him. He replaced the dressing just as he heard trumpets play. It seemed a little early for the daily death announcement so he gently shook the sleeping girl to wake her.

Katniss woke with a start reaching for her bow. Saint John reached over and gently took her hand. She looked at him and he looked over at the entrance just as the voice of Claudius Templesmith said, "Tomorrow morning there will be a feast at the Cornucopia."

The two young tributes looked at each other smiling. Saint John thought the feast would be a great time to end this thing and kill the surviving players. But with his wound still healing he considered it an unacceptable risk. Katniss knew they didn't need food bad enough to risk walking into an ambush. They both had already decided they weren't going to walk into a set up when the voice continued, "Now hold on. Some of you may already be declining my invitation. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you need something desperately. Each of you will find that something in a backpack marked with your district number at the Cornucopia at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you this will be your last chance."

Saint John knew what that meant. The Gamemakers were going to have some kind of medicine or treatment for his wound. They were using the whole lover's thing Haymtich and him set up against them . They were testing it to see if Katniss would die for him. What they didn't know, or Katniss for that matter was he didn't need the medicine. The problem was he couldn't just tell her why he didn't need it anymore. He hoped the girl lying next to him had enough sense not to go. He looked over at her, in her eyes and realized she didn't. "You're not going."

She tried to laugh it off. "Yeah, right. I'm going to walk into an ambush. You may not believe this but I really did listen to what you taught me."

Saint John continued staring at her. She was worried about him, he could see it in her eyes. He wasn't sure whether it was a close friends concern or a lover's but it didn't matter; she goes alone and she'll get killed. He was sure of it.

Katniss rolled her eyes and asked, "How stupid do you think I am?"

Saint John felt himself smile thinking, "How do I answer that?"

She stopped his reply. "Don't answer that."

He closed his eyes. "Kat, I can see it in your eyes. You're the universes worst liar."

She gave up trying to fool him and said in a frustrated tone, "Fine, I am going. The medicine you need might be there."

"I don't need any medicine. I'll be fine in another day or two."

She laughed viciously. She was beyond sympathy for him. He wasn't being practical and he knew it. Katniss did whatever it took to keep her friends alive. Even if they didn't want her to. "You don't need medicine? You've always been pale enough to glow in the moonlight but now you look like a ghost and I could boil the soup on your face."

He wanted to tell her it was the side effects of fighting infection and regenerating but couldn't for the same reason he couldn't tell her the truth about him. However what he was thinking at the time was, "There's something else I'd like on my face right now." He could feel a pleasant tingling in his groin and his pants started to get just a little bit tighter. He looked down at his crotch and thought, "If I can lie here and get even a partial hard on I must be feeling better."

"Look, I am going and you can't stop me." Katniss started to get up to leave.

"Want to bet on that,", he thought. Saint John gently kicked at the back of the young women's knees causing her to fall back wards on him. He felt a stab of pain as she landed on his wound. He ignored the pain, wrapped his left arm around her neck and placed his right arm around the back of her head; a classic choke hold. He held her there but could apply the pressure necessary to knock her out. "I could choke you out and tie you up until the feast if over."

She lied still not moving. "And yet I'm still awake. Didn't you teach me if you hesitate in an attack you're dead?" He released his grip enough for her to look up at him. She stared into his blue eyes. He stared into her grey ones. They just stared at each other for what felt like forever. A frozen moment in time just like he felt when making love to someone he cared about. Katniss broke the moment. "You can't hurt me anymore than you could hurt Rue."

She was right and he knew it. He couldn't harm her even to protect her. Finally he said, "Shit," and released her. She gently rolled off him and sat with her back to the side of the cave. "Fine, we'll both go."

"You're too sick, you'd…."

"I'm well enough to be bait. I'll go after the backs while you sit back and play sniper. I'll show you the hiding spot where I used to watch them. You can see the Cornucopia from there and if you're careful it's within the range of your bow…."

"I know the place. Rue showed it to me." She paused with letting sadness show on her face as she thought about her former ally. "She wanted me to tell you thanks for the chocolate."

Saint John closed his eyes willing the sadness away. Sadness was another useless emotion in battle. When he was in control again he opened his eyes and said coldly, "She needed it. Chocolate makes girls feel better."

She smiled playfully. A smile that had an even more of an effect on his manhood. Enough to almost make him dizzy from loss of blood to his brain. She asked, "Only girls, doesn't work on boys?"

"Not this boy."

"What makes you feel better?"

"Tell you when we get back home. Now may I continue with the plan?"

"The one that has me doing all the work again?"

"Yeah that one. I'll run towards the packs, you wait until someone comes out of their hiding spot. Try to hit them on your first shot but don't worry if you miss. Once you shoot everyone with know your position so come out, walk as quickly as you can towards me and still be able to shoot accurately. Close the range and take out as many as you can. I'll watch your back. If I tell you to duck then get down. If I die you need to run got it?"

She nodded and started to get up.

Saint John didn't want her to leave and asked hesitantly, "W w where are you going?"

"Getting your soup, you're going to need your strength tomorrow," and she was gone.

Saint John was certain this would be their last night together. He didn't like the plan at all. He was still too weak to fight effectively which meant she'd have to do the brunt of the work. He wasn't even sure if she'd killed anyone yet. Hit with the realization that his mission was going to fail he did the only thing he could do, he laughed. Laughter was one thing that made him feel better. Besides, his death didn't necessarily mission failure. Controlled vengeance was useful in combat. He just hoped she could control it or forget it once he was gone and survive until the end. Katniss returned with the pot and started feeding him like before. The soup was actually pretty good. He ate about half of it and forced Katniss to eat the rest. She left again to clean out the pot and returned a few minutes later somewhat excited. He asked, "What?"

"How about some berries for dessert?" She started spoon feeding him again.

The berries tasted unlike any berry he ever had before. They were very sweet, too sweet. He was wondering where she got sugar to enhance the taste but she was feeding him so quickly he didn't get a chance to ask. Just as he finished the bowl he started to feel drossy and his eyes were getting too heavy to keep open. That was when he realized he'd been drugged. Haymitch must have sent her another gift, something to put him out so she could go to the feast. He tried to struggle but the drug's effects were too strong. He was barely able to get out a whispered, "You bitch," before he fell into a deep healing sleep.

His body no longer hampered by the venom and was some raw materials to work with first destroyed the remaining infection. Then it healed the damaged arties and veins stopping his blood loss. Then re-grew the damaged muscle and skin tissue. When his body was able to fight again it started breaking down and metabolizing the drug that kept him unconscious. Color returned to his face and his body temperature returned to normal just as Katniss gave him a kiss and left for her appointment with destiny.

Saint John dreamed of camping by a huge lake near the forest he grew up in. He dreamed of his mother showing him different plants that could be used for food or medicine or even poisons that could be used for hunting. He dreamed of his father showing him how to shoot several different weapons including a bow. The last he was never that skilled with. He pictured his grandfather telling him about his heritage. Hanging on the wall of his grandfather's study were the weapons of his ancestors. The great axe used by the Norwegian raiders called Vikings. His paternal grandfather told him he could trace his bloodline all the way to Eric the Red. The large swords called a Claymore were used by the Scottish highlanders. That line could be traced all the way back to Robert the Bruce, the ancient ruler of Scotland. His grandparents taught him how to use both but he always preferred the axe. His grandfather used to tell him he favored the Norwegian in him. It explained his skill in fishing and the fact that he never seemed to listen to anything anyone said. His grandfather used to joke, "You can always tell a Norwegian. You just can't tell them much." They were happy dreams of a happier time when he thought his life was all planned out. At the time he was too young to understand your plans and fate don't always agree. His last dream he was walking through the woods with a young red headed girl. Shannon was his childhood friend; they did everything together. In the dream she walked ahead of him. He tried to catch up to her but she was moving too fast for him. Then suddenly she stopped, turned to him and said in a high pitched child's voice, "She needs you." The red headed girl then pointed to a taller blonde girl wearing a tan uniform. He looked down and realized he was wearing the same uniform. The girl ran off into the woods. He began chasing her but just like with Shannon he couldn't catch up. He was more desperate to catch her. This girl was someone he loved long ago. Since Ashley died he dreamed about her a lot. Well, a lot up until his masters took his memories from him. Then just like before she stopped and turned towards him. Her blue eyes looking bright and happy like he remembered. She pointed deeper into the woods and said in the same child's voice, "She needs you." At first he saw nothing in the woods then suddenly a bird, a large eagle with his wings on fire flew down and landed. It was the firebird, the symbol of the group he once belonged to. The fire went out and the bird changed into a small dark skinned girl. Her hair stuck out wildly and she was dressed like a tribute in the game he played. Rue had a worried look on her face and said, "You need to save her. She needs to live. You need to live. You are home Saint John. You need to tell the others. All of you need to free us."

Saint John awoke with a start. His muscles and nerves tight and ready for a fight. It took a second to realize where he was. He looked around and noticed Katniss was gone. The feast. She went to the feast without him. "Fuck me." He opened the crate, took out a short curved sword, tucked it in his belt along with a knife and picked up the large double bladed battle axe. He ran out of the cave not bothering to reset the camouflage entrance and headed straight for the feast.

He wasn't interested in being quiet and ran as fast as his chemically enhanced muscles could move him. It took him less than three minutes to arrive at Rue's spying spot. He hurdled over the bush and saw Katniss lying on her back with Clove sitting on her. Over to the left he saw a huge dark figure watching the girl's exchange. It was the first time he'd seen Thresh since the game began. He didn't appeared to be armed and wasn't the immediate threat so he focused his sights on the girl attacking his friend. He slowed down a half a step, took the battle axe in both hands, took aim and threw it. The axe's blade slammed into Clove's back with a sickening thud. The blade split her spine in two like a twig and kept going into her chest cutting her heart in two. She arched her back from the impact and fell forward on Katniss dead. Saint John accelerated his running towards Thresh. He was on him just as Thresh turned and the cannon went off. Thresh brought his right arm to block Saint John's attack. Saint John grabbed his arm with his left, hooked his right arm in Thresh's armpit and tossed him to the ground. He drew the sword and was just about to bury it in the bigger man's chest when he heard a weak voice say, "Saint John, don't please."

He looked over quickly as Katniss pushed the dead Clove off her. She had a cut over her right eye but didn't appear to be badly injured. He looked back down at Thresh and considered the situation. After a few seconds he let the dark skinned young man go. He stood straight keeping the sword pointed at him.

Thresh looked up at him surprised at first then angry. "Go ahead and kill me. I'd kill you if I had the chance."

Saint John looked around quickly scanning for Cato when he replied, "I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to use you." He looked back at Thresh's questioning face. He pointed his sword at the other two packs sitting on the table and said, "Take the packs and get going. Cato will chase you while I get Katniss out of here."

"Or you could join us."

They both looked over at Katniss a little shocked by her offer.

"Like Rue did."

Thresh asked, "Was it true about you being her ally?"

Katniss nodded. "I was there when the boy from two killed her. I sang her to sleep."

Thresh snorted, "To sleep."

Katniss corrected, "To death. I sang to her until she died."

Thresh stood up. Saint John kept his sword on him as he walked slowly over to the table. He looked down at Katniss and replied, "It's not my way. I'll do this alone."

Saint John nodded. "Then go before Cato gets here." As Thresh picked up the bags Saint John said, "Thresh, Good luck. Don't let them break you and make them pay to take your life."

Thresh nodded. "Better get the fire girl out of here. If we meet again nothing owed." and he took off towards the field beyond the Cornucopia.

Saint John said quietly to himself, "Stay alive, hope I don't see you again my friend." He then looked down at the still supine Katniss and asked, "Can you walk?"

Katniss nodded.

He could hear something coming through the woods and a voice crying out, "Clove!" He then said in his best commanding voice, "On your feet Everdeen." He reached down pulled her up and threw her in the direction of the tree line. He ripped the axe from Clove's body spraying blood in all directions. He wiped the axe on the dead girl's coat and ran off after Katniss. He was nearly carrying her as they went behind the bushes and fell to the ground. He looked back and saw Cato running towards his dead district partner. He looked down at Katniss and asked quietly, "Can you hit him from here?"

She sat up, notched an arrow and pulled back. She then lowered her bow and said, "Can't focus my eyes."

A wave of concern came over Saint John. He instructed her to lie back down on her back and close her eyes. He covered her eyes with his hands for a second and told her to open her eyes just as he removed his hands. The pupils in her grey eyes constricted as the light hit them, her right eye a little slower than her left. "You have a concussion." He looked at her head wound. The small cut above her eye was bleeding badly but if that was the only wound she had her concussion couldn't be too bad. He pulled out a bandage from his pocket. He placed it on the wound and tore a piece of his coat's sleeve off and used it to tie the bandage to her head. He looked back at the Cornucopia and noticed Cato was gone. A Capital aircraft just appeared and started to collect Clove's body. He helped Katniss to her feet. "Let's get going."

She placed her hand on his shoulder to steady herself. "Guess you didn't need the medicine."

He placed his arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, maybe one of these days you'll learn to listen to me." He helped her walk back to their home.


	8. Chapter 8

With his arm around her shoulder he helped down into the creek valley. They walked in the creek to cover their tracks thoroughly soaking their leather shoes and socks. By the time they arrived at their cave Katniss was almost out on her feet. Saint John was also feeling the fatigue from the combat cocktail being purged from his system. He helped her lie down in the back of the cave on the sleeping bag. He then repaired the camouflage at the entrance. When that was finished he turned his attention to the young woman that risked her life to save him. With the front blocked off the cave was very dark. He took one of the lanterns, filled it with kerosene and lit it with one of Katniss' matches. In the orange shadowy light he took off Katniss' jacket and checked her for injuries. Starting at her head he felt around looking for more bleeding or anything that felt like broken bones. Another wave of concern came over him when he found dried blood in her left ear; another sign of brain injury. The blood was dry which meant whatever caused it was before her latest injury but still brain injuries can be compounded if you sustain one after another. He looked at her sleeping, childlike face and thought about waking her up. It usually wasn't a good idea to let someone sleep with a serious head injury. But it was also nearly impossible to keep an exhausted person awake. Besides, he didn't have any way of confirming her injury or treating it. All he could do was hope for the best. He continued his examination checking for more bleeding wounds or broken bones. Her ribs were intact as was her pelvis. She had good, strong and regular pulses from her wrists and ankles. He took off her soaked footwear and ran his thumb across her bare feet. The way her toes curled was hopeful; it showed she didn't have any serious nervous system damage. He checked her pulse at the elbow of her right arm for what he thought was about a minute. He let the rate and pressure of the blood flowing through her brachial artery burn into his mind. He'd check it every five minutes for the next few hours looking for any changes in rate or pressure. Increased blood pressure and slower pulse rates were also signs of brain damage. Unfortunately even if there was any change there was nothing he'd be able to do about it without the right medications and equipment. But he could stop the bleeding from her head wound. He found the makeshift needle Katniss used to stitch him up, tied more fishing line to it and washed it all in alcohol. Katniss moaned a couple of times while he worked but never completely woke up. Once he finished replacing the dressing on the newly sowed up wound he sat back away from her and thought. Another tribute dead at his hands. At least Clove was, in his mind, a legitimate target and not some unlucky kid. There were three more hostiles still out there somewhere. Cato and Thresh probably playing hide and seek in the grassland beyond the Cornucopia. The girl Katniss called Foxface was hiding somewhere in the woods trying to avoid everybody. A thought suddenly occurred to him; the pile of supplies were gone. He would have ran right past it to get to Katniss. He wondered what had happened to it. Maybe Foxface or another hapless tribute set of the mines blowing themselves and the supplies to hell. He smiled and said quietly, "Good." Their chances of outlasting the others were greatly increased without them. He was getting hungry again and dug through Katniss' pack to see how much food she had. There were only a couple pieces of meat and a few small chunks of dried fruit. He decided to wait until she was awake to eat anything. But he also found a pair of the night vision glasses he saw the girl careers wearing on the first night. He tried them on but the light from the lantern distorted his vision. He took them off and replaced them back in her pack. He thought first water, then some food and then shore up their defenses against attack. He took the water jug and iodine bottle and went out to the creek. He treated the jug, transferred the water to the smaller bottles and started working on another. Then he remembered the plastic crate. He went back into the cave, drug it out and smiled. He broke the hinges that held the crate together, rinsed out one side and used it as a means of storing a large amount of treated water. The other side he thought could be a way of storing food. Using the remaining fishing hooks and line along with worms he dug up he set two automatic snares to catch fish. He filled one side of the crate with treated water. That gave them, by his estimate, about five gallons of drinking water at their disposal. With the water safely in the cave and after checking Katniss' condition he decided to clean up a little. He set his clothes on a rock and lied in his underwear in the creek letting the running water clean him. He even grabbed a couple of small fish that tried to swim past him and threw them on the shore. He filled the other section of the crate with creek water and tossed the live fish in it. Then without bothering to get dressed, the whole country had already saw him so it was a little late to be shy, checked his snares. He had one good sized bass hooked on the snare. He tossed that one in the crate with the others just as he heard a boom. At first he thought it was a cannon sounding the death of another tribute until he looked at the sky. Dark clouds blocked out the sun indicating the coming of a storm. He dragged in the fish tank and got his clothes just as the deluge started. He got dressed in the relative safety of the cave, everything but his still soaked shoes and socks and checked Katniss again. Her condition hadn't changed, her pulse still the same, the cut above her eye wasn't bleeding anymore and she was still fast asleep. He blew out the lantern to conserve fuel and sat in the dark waiting for the storm to go past. When the sun was down and Clove's face was projected into the still storming sky he figured the rain would last most of the night. There was no way he was going to be able to cook the fish or heat up rocks for heat that night. He put on Katniss' glasses and used them to shore up their defenses. He used the pick end of a tomahawk to dig two holes in the cave's rock floor and mounted the spears in them. Saint John drank some water, ate a raw fish and after getting Katniss situated in the sleeping bag he crawled in with her. He sat up with her sleeping next to him with the bow at his right side, just in case. He tried the night vision glasses and found out he didn't like them at all. He tossed them towards Katniss' pack and watched the entrance until fatigue won and he dozed off again.

Saint John had a dream that he was drowning and woke up to water dripping on his head. He was looking at the ceiling of the cave. He must have stretched out in his sleep. He felt someone very close to him on his left. Katniss' head was resting on his left shoulder, her hand on his chest. He gently kissed her head. "Hey, Kitten." Katniss' hand moved slightly as she snuggled even closer to him. Saint John really didn't want to move, he thought only an unfeeling ass would want to ruin such a moment. But the water dripping on his face was becoming quite annoying. He gently moved her head and hand off him and slowly crawled out of the sleeping bag. The next thing he noticed besides the leaking cave roof was the smell of dead fish. He looked in the tank and laughed at the two corpse floating on the water. He laughed. "Should have known that wasn't going to work." Saint John tossed that half of the crate out into the storm. He then used the plastic sheet Katniss carried in her pack to shield them from the dripping water. As he worked he said quietly, "Gee, that tent would really come in handy right now." He still cursed himself for letting someone find his supply stash. With the rain off their sleeping area Saint John has time to sit back and think again. The rain was coming down even harder than the day before. There was no point in hunting or fishing; he'd never catch anything in this weather except pneumonia. He sat against the wall of the cave and altered between watching her sleep and watching the entrance for an attack that no one in their right mind would launch in this weather. He closed his eyes and started meditating to try to take his mind off his hunger. A growling in his stomach quickly followed by a sudden urge brought him out of his trance. He ran out into the rain and barely had time to get his pants down. As he cleaned himself with the only thing he had, his hand, he thought, "Note to self, never, never, no matter how hungry you are, ever eat raw fish." He washed his hands in the fast running creek that was now more than twice the size it used to be. He was starting to get a little concerned it might get high enough to wash out their home. He made a note to keep an eye on the creeks level and went back into the cave. He sat back down shivering from the cold. His coat kept out most of the rain but his shirt and undershirt was soaked through. He peeled them off and put his coat back on. His pants were better at keeping out the rain. He placed his wet clothes next to the still wet socks and shoes, sat back down near his sleeping friend and thought warm thoughts. He looked up at the water leaking in from holes in the ceiling and wondered if he could light a fire in the cave without killing them both. The smoke should rise through the holes and in this rain it would be very difficult for anyone to see. Of course finding dry burnable wood in a monsoon rain might be a problem. He pulled his knees to his chest and covered his numb feet in his coat tail, pulled up the hood and went back to meditating. His mind took him to a warm tropical beach. He let the trance envelope him so well that he could feel the warm sun on his skin. His body responded by raising its temperature to counter the beginning effects of hypothermia. Survival is all in the mind. What his mind could conceive his body could achieve. It was a simple but very important concept he learned in training. It had kept him alive may times in the past and even helped him cope with the horrors he'd done and witnessed. However, like all coping strategies it didn't last forever. In this case his body would need food to produce enough heat to keep from dying of exposure. The movement of air and the quiet sound of fabric sliding against itself brought him out of this trace. He opened his eyes just in time to see Katniss open hers. He smiled as warmly as he could and said, "Hey Kitten."

Her eyes showed shock and a little fear for a second; like she wasn't sure where she was. Then she smiled slightly and replied, "Don't call me Kitten." She moaned and tried to sit up.

Saint John laughed quietly and became serious when he saw her try to move. He placed his hand on her chest. "Shhh, not so fast. Take it easy." He placed his right knee behind her so she could rest her back against him. He held a bottle of water to her lips and let her drink. When she finished he helped her lye back. She touched her bandaged wound with her right hand. Saint John smiled again. "I stitched it up while you slept."

She grimaced at him. "It must have hurt but I don't remember."

"I'm sure it did. You moaned a bit but you were so out of it you didn't even open your eyes. You've been out so long I was getting worried. Mind if I check you out a bit?"

She gave him a quick, cute puzzled look and nodded.

"Close your eyes." The puzzled look turned into a scowl, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. He smiled wider, placed his hand above her eyes and said, "Trust me."

"If this is some kind of joke, I'm going to hit you hard," and closed her eyes.

Saint John lit the lantern, held it over her face and told her to open her eyes and keep them open. Katniss opened her eyes and blinked from the light. It was hard to tell but both her pupils appeared to constrict and dilate normally. He nodded pleased with the result. He asked her how many fingers he held up which she answered correctly. He then had her follow her finger with her eyes as he moved it around. Her eye movements were even and steady convincing him that she had no indication of brain injury. He kissed the tip of his finger and touched her nose with it. She smiled in return. He smiled back and said, "Good, between your eyes reaction and the blood in your ear I thought you had a real brain injury."

Her smile went away and she asked, "You said before I had a concussion; how did you know?"

He explained that your eyes are supposed to react to light at the same time. When they don't it can mean a brain injury. He then told her bleeding from an ear is a worse sign and started snapping his fingers by each ear asking her if she could hear him.

Katniss brushed his hand away. "I can't hear from my left ear. Ever since I blew up the supplies."

He looked at her incredulously. He'd been trying to come up with a plan to do just that without blowing himself up in the process. He asked slowly, "How did you pull that off?"

Katniss explained her entire plan. How Rue lit fires to lure the Careers away from her camp. How Katniss saw Foxface dodge and dance around the mines to raid the supplies and then how she used three arrows to cut open a sack of apples. The apples set off enough of the mines to start a chain reaction that destroyed everything. She also told him how she couldn't walk afterwards from the dizziness and had to crawl into the trees and hide until morning. "Since then I've been deaf in my left ear." She looked scared like she was waiting for him to lecture her on how stupid that was.

Instead of anger Saint John felt proud. He gently took her face in his hands, said, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant," and kissed her on the forehead.

The shocked look on her face almost made him laugh. "You're not mad?"

He frowned. "Why would I be mad? You used your strengths against your enemies' weaknesses. Denied them their supplies. Hell, you probably did more to end this than anything I've done."

Sadness along with tears flooded her eyes. "I also got Rue killed," and she explained exactly how Rue died.

Saint John sat down next to her and pulled her close to him. She didn't resist resting her head on his shoulder. "You didn't kill her. The boy from one killed her, the game killed her, the system killed her. We gave her hope, a chance to survive. You gave her friendship, let her feel close to another human being for the last time in her life. You made her happy for the last time in her life and you let her go peacefully." He leaned over and kissed her forehead again. "You gave her more than she could ever hope for in the arena." He leaned back against the rock wall and thought about whether he should say what he was thinking. He wondered if it would help or make her feel worse. After a few seconds he said, "And you avenged her death and got yourself one step closer to getting home."

She mumbled into his chest, "Doesn't make me feel any better."

"Good." He felt her move against him. He didn't have to look down to know she was looking up at him. "Revenge doesn't make you feel any better Kat, you think it will but it doesn't." He looked down into her eyes and said, "The best thing you can do for Rue is to win, go home and live your life as best you can. Be as happy as you can for her and never forget her." He touched her nose with his finger making her smile briefly. He then asked, "Hungry?"

She looked like she wanted to say something else but instead she just nodded.

Saint John got up retrieved her pack and sat across from her drinking water.

Katniss ate a couple pieces of the roasted Groosling and a few raisins, looked over at him and said, "You should eat too."

The idea of eating made his still queasy stomach feel like it was going to flip over. He frowned and shook his head. "The idea of eating makes me sick." She frowned at him. He smiled. "I had some bad sushi." That made her frown even more. He laughed and told her about eating the raw fish and what it did to him. She laughed at him. Saint John scowled at her. "Glad you find this funny."

She looked down and replied, "Sorry." But he could tell by the smile on her face she was trying to keep from laughing. She put her pack next to her and said, "We'll save rest for tonight." She then looked up at him and continued, "And you're going to eat. I don't care how sick you feel you need to keep up your strength."

"Yeah mom, whatever you say." He crawled over and unwrapped her feet. They were ice cold; cold enough to make him worry about them. He held her right foot against his body and nearly jumped from shock. He started rubbing her left foot when she pulled both her feet back.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to keep your feet from freezing off. Here give," and reached out to grab her ankles. She resisted for a few seconds but eventually stretched her legs out towards him. He replaced her right foot against his body using his body heat to warm it while rubbing her left. Her foot was so rigid it was like trying to massage a rock. He stopped and looked up at red, grim concentrating face. "Kat, relax; I'm not going to hurt you." Her foot did relax a little and he went back to work. He pressed on a particular tense part above her heel causing her to almost jump.

"Ow!" She pulled her foot back to her lap and started rubbing it herself. "First you tickle me and then you press on a very sore spot" She rubbed her foot gently. "Damn, I swear that sent lightning bolts up my back."

"Right between your shoulders? Does your neck hurt?"

Her eyes became suspicious again. She stared at him for a second and nodded.

He waved his hands trying to get her to let him massage her foot again. "There's a tense spot in your foot, I can rub it and maybe remove the tension. Help you relax a little. Not that it's going to be easy lying on a rock floor in a damp cave in the pouring rain with a bunch of kids wanting you dead." She hesitated apparently not completely trusting him. "Kat, I'm sorry I hurt you, I'll be gentler." He held out his hands. "Please?"

Slowly she extended her foot for a second time. He rubbed the sore spot gently increasing the pressure. Katniss closed her eyes and moaned softly. Her foot relaxed completely allowing Saint John to gently rub the sole of her foot up to her toes.

Katniss put her hand on her shoulders and asked quietly, "How can rubbing my feet take away pain in my shoulders?"

"I'm not sure. There's a science to it but I can't remember what it's called. I just know it works." He cupped his fingers around her icy toes and breathed on them.

Katniss laughed. "You're tickling me again," and tried to pull her foot away.

This time Saint John held her ankle firmly. "I'm trying to warm your toes up," and continued blowing warm air into his hands. When her toes were warmer he told her to get her foot back into the sleeping bag and started working on her right foot. After more moans and a few sighs her foot was also warmed. He tucked that back into the bag and asked, "Feeling better?" She opened her eyes and nodded. "Good, move over I'm freezing." She slid over giving Saint John enough room to squeeze into the bag next to her. He sealed the bag around them and tucked it up to their chins. He slid his left arm under her head so she could use it as a pillow. He ran his fingers gently up and down her back and felt her get tense again. He thought he'd gone too far with her. He said, "Sorry Kat, wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable," and started to climb out of the bag.

She rolled towards him, opened her jacket so share her body heat with him and rested her head on his chest. She said in a child like voice, "Stay, don't leave me."

He placed his left arm behind her and started stroking her back again. He brushed a few loose strands of hair from her face and said quietly, "Never, not in a million years." She became tense again but as he touched her the more she relaxed. The song he used to sing to Ashley returned to his head. This time instead of humming it he sang it for the first time since Ashley died.

"_I could lie awake just to hear you breathing. Watch you smile while you're sleeping, while you're far away dreaming. I could spend my life in this sweet surrender. I could stay lost in this moment for ever, where every moment I spend with you is a moment I treasure. _

_Don't want to close my eyes, don't want to fall asleep cause I'd miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing. Cause even if I dream of you the sweetest dream wound never do I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing. _

_Lying close to you feeling your heart beating. And I'm wondering what your dreaming wondering if its me your seeing. Then I kiss your eyes and thank God were together. I just want to stay with you in this moment for ever and ever. _

_Don't want to close my eyes, don't want to fall asleep cause I'd miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing. Cause even if I dream of you the sweetest dream wound never do I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing. _

_I don't want to miss one smile, I don't want to miss one kiss. I just want to be with you right here with you just like this. I just want to hold you close, feel your heart so close to mine and just stay here in this moment for the rest of time. _

_Don't want to close my eyes, don't want to fall asleep cause I'd miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing. Cause even if I dream of you the sweetest dream wound never do I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing."_

He wasn't Steve Tyler but then again it would be hard for someone to sleep with him screaming at the top of his lungs. Also, it wasn't the best song to sing without music but still it was how he felt at that moment; just like it was how he felt about Ashley. He could tell by her soft regular breath on his chest and the slow steady beat of her heart that Katniss had fallen asleep. The warmth of her body kept him warm but also made him sleepy. He forced himself to stay awake watching the cave entrance for any threats against the woman that it took until then to admit to himself that he was really in love with. He no longer wanted to die for her. He wanted something even more difficult; he wanted to live for her. He just hoped the twisted bastards that run this show would keep their word and allow them to both to walk away. He wrapped his right arm around her and just like the song said watched her sleep next to him not wanting this moment to ever end. He thought about her wondering if she felt the same way. She risked her life to find him, made herself vulnerable to take care of him and nearly died getting medicine she believed he needed. Why would she do that unless she loved him. By the time darkness started to set in the rain came down even harder causing the plastic sheet to come down on top of them. He crawled out of the sleeping bag waking Katniss as well. Saint John pulled the spears out of the ground and used them and the plastic sheet to build a shelter to keep their sleeping area as dry as he could. He looked over at a still waking Katniss and said with a smirk, "Guess its dinner time."

They divided the remainder of her food. He choked down two pieces of very old Groosling, a couple of pieces of dried apricots and roasted roots. They both chased their meager meal with a bottle of water. He filled both bottles with water from his home made trough. She nodded approving of his use of the crate. He told her what he did with the other and she laughed when he said the fish died anyway. He laughed with her and said, "Yeah, I guess nothing I've done here as really worked out."

She scowled at him. "I wouldn't say that."

He took the lantern and lit it just as the day's announcements started. The anthem played but no Tributes were shown; no deaths that day. Not that surprising with the weather. He set the lantern down near the water and saw the second lantern sitting next to the medical kit and bottle of kerosene. He picked it up and examined it. The lantern had a metal frame protecting a thick glass reservoir for the fuel. He sat down pulled out his folding knife from his belt and started prying the metal frame apart.

While he worked Katniss felt a need to encourage him. She said, "You've taught me how to survive and saved my life like four times. I'd say you've done well considering." Saint John didn't say anything and kept trying to break the metal casing without damaging the glass. Katniss asked in an annoyed tone, "Fine, you don't want to talk to me maybe you could tell me what you're trying to do?"

He replied without looking at her, "Expanding our weaponry a bit." He could almost feel her scowling at him. He couldn't help but smile slightly. He got the bottom of the lantern off and took the small round glass bottle out of the frame. He held the bottle up and said, "I thought the Tributes from 12 that were on fire during the parade should add fire to their attack options."

Katniss replied, "Don't talk to me about fire."

Saint John looked up at her questioningly. Katniss explained how the Gamemakers used fire balls to herd her towards the Careers burning her legs and hands in the process. He nodded. "I wondered why half the arena was burned to a crisp." He frowned and asked, "I didn't see any bad burns when I did your trauma exam." She frowned again wondering just how closely he examined her. He laughed and explained the exam was done with her clothes on except her shoes and socks which he removed because they were soaked through. "I wasn't going to remove any of your clothes unless I found an injury I needed to treat; which I didn't." He was going to ask about her burns when the answer came to him. "Haymitch sent you medicine for the burns right?" She nodded. That brought up another question he had but he wasn't sure it was a good idea to ask. He was getting more than annoyed but angry. Instead he tossed the glass bottle to her and said, "It's called a Molotov Cocktail. Fill the bottle with a flammable liquid and stick a piece of cloth in the opening. Light the cloth and throw it. The bottle breaks and the flaming cloth sets the liquid on fire. Instant fire bomb."

She examined the glass bottle for a few seconds picturing what Saint John told her in her mind. She looked back at him and asked, "Where did you learn stuff like this?"

"I read a lot." He was getting madder by the second and didn't want to take it out on her. The situation was making him angry. All his mistakes, running out of food, the rain that kept them from hunting for more and the fact that Katniss seemed determined to get herself killed trying to keep him alive. He volunteered to protect her and she's been saving him. The cold dampness of the cave and a sudden painful cramp in his lower abdomen fueled his rage even more. He stood up and went back out in the rain. When he finished his business and cleaned up he returned to the cave once again soaking wet and freezing. He replaced the camouflage entrance and sat back down across from her.

Katniss wasn't laughing this time. She asked with concern, "You alright, Saint John?"

He waved his hand at her. "I'm fine, go to sleep. I'll take the first watch." She opened the sleeping bag beckoning him to join her. Saint John knew she was just wanting to help him stay warm but still the invitation aroused desires in him. Desires that he couldn't satisfy because he knew she didn't want him the same way he wanted her. The frustration made him angrier still. He decided the best thing he could do was to not speak and keep his distance from Katniss. Unfortunately, the young woman wouldn't leave it at that.

She closed the sleeping bag, sat up pulling her knees to her chest and asked, "What's wrong?" When he didn't reply she said, "I know you're sick, I'm sorry I laughed at you. I've eaten raw fish here but I didn't get sick." She was trying to gently press him to find what was wrong. "Look, Saint John, you're too hard on yourself. The Careers could have found me the first night if it hadn't been for you. That boy would have killed me with that spear if you hadn't warned me." She paused remembering the viciousness of Saint John's attack on the boy. It was hard for her to reconcile the happy kid that used to tease her and help others back home with the cold blooded killer she'd seen in the last few days. She'd see him fight before but ripping open someone's stomach and cutting Clove nearly in half with an axe were new. She collected her thoughts and said, "You kept them from shooting me out of that tree." Then she thought about it and asked, "That was you right?" When he still didn't answer her she answered her own question, "Of course it was you, who else would it have been? And you kept Clove from carving me up. You know she wasn't going to be quick, she planned on making it as painful as possible. She told me that." When he still refused to speak she thought changing the subject might help. "I'm glad you didn't kill Thresh, although I'm wondering why you did that?" She waited again for him to say something. His silence was beginning to make her mad. She took a breath and said, "Thresh is big, I think he's gotten bigger since the game. He could be dangerous." His continued silence made her chuckle for a second. Her anger brought out a slight cruel streak in her and she asked, "Is this what makes boys feel better, sitting in a corner hating themselves for making mistakes and being human?"

He sat there staring at the entrance listening to the rain fall hoping if he ignored her she'd give up and leave him alone. After several minutes of feeling her glaring at him his anger overcame his common sense. He asked in a very quiet sinister tone, "What else has Haymitch sent you?"

Katniss turned her head to her left a little shocked by his question. He asked again a little louder, "What else did Haymitch send you besides the burn medicine?"

She replied slowly, "You know about the broth, bread from District 11 for what I did for Rue I guess and…."

Saint John answered it for her, "And whatever you used to drug me, right?"

Katniss stopped looking at him and buried her face in her knees, apparently regretting getting him to speak.

Saint John looked away. "Exactly." He knew he didn't need to say anymore to her. He knew she'd gotten the message but his rage needed an outlet and in his mind she was asking for it. "You haven't heard a damn thing I said to you, have you? I told you it was an ambush, you knew it was an ambush, I told you I didn't need medicine but you insist on going. So you let me come up with a plan that could have gotten you home yesterday just so you and that drunken bastard can knock me out so you can go by yourself and get killed. What the hell were you thinking?" He looked up at the ceiling and yelled, "What the hell were you thinking? I told you to keep her alive not help her get herself killed! If I get out of this you're a dead man Abernathy!"

"Don't blame Haymitch! He knows I need you here alive with me, not rotting from infection."

"Don't you get it? I wasn't dying! Besides you don't need me. You got out of that tree by yourself, you took out the supplies by yourself…"

"Because of what you taught me about fighting!"

"And if you'd been listening you never would have allowed Clove to get that close to you." Katniss looked away. She knew he was right, she could have set the others up and ambushed them. She could have waited in the bushes and picked them off with arrows. Saint John took a deep breath and held it for a second before exhaling. He said calmly, quietly, "You still don't understand, I'm not going back, I never was. I'm here to help you get home. You're dying for me….I couldn't live with that." He paused for a second trying to hold back a wave of sadness and tears. It took all his will to keep from breaking down and balling right there. As it was a few tears did escape and ran down his cheeks. "I can't live with the ghost of a loved one haunting me. The ghost of a person I loved and cared about that died because I wasn't there for her or I wasn't good enough to protect her. I'm not strong enough." He tried to hide his face from the girl sitting across the cave from him. He suddenly had a burning need to leave, to escape into the perpetual night that had been his solace in the past. He moved over to the cave entrance to try to get a glimpse of stars but all he saw were sheets of water falling from the thick clouds. He was expecting another angry, sarcastic response from Katniss, she was a teenage girl after all, but instead he heard her move out of the sleeping bag and crawl over to him. He felt her arms wrap around his chest and lie her head on his left shoulder.

She whispered in his ear, "And maybe I feel the same way. Maybe I don't want to live with your ghost haunting me." She hugged him tighter and said a little louder, "Besides, if were careful neither one of us will have to live without the other."

He looked down and thought, Hope you right Kitten, hope your right and I'm wrong on this. He took her hands in his, kissed them and said, "I'm sorry Kitten. I'm not that mad at you, just mad at everything I guess."

"Like what? What else are you mad at besides, me, yourself and Haymitch?"

He faced her smiling. "Well, lets see. We're out of food. If I hadn't let someone track me to my cave we'd have a block of cheese, an instant meal, fruit and whatever I got from the Career's camp. Including a tent that would keep us dry."

She hugged him tighter. "And there's nothing we can do about that now. Besides, we'll go hunting tomorrow. By this time tomorrow we'll have enough food to have our own feast. So what else?"

He sighed; women could always figure him out. Arguing, yelling and asking endless questions just make him shut down but get close, hug him and whisper in his ear and he'll tell you just about anything. "I was also thinking maybe if we went with my plan for the feast we might have been able to end this. Then we wouldn't be freezing and starving in a cave."

She looked up at him, her eyes thoughtful. "I don't think so." He looked at her questioningly. She had a slightly superior looking smirking on her face when she said, "Foxface was hiding in the Cornucopia. As soon as the table came up she grabbed her pack and was gone. I never had a shot and unless you were standing right there you wouldn't have caught her either."

Saint John nodded. "She's clever, its so simple no one else even thought of it." Suddenly something occurred to him that he hadn't considered before. "She's the one that's been tracking me. She took the supplies from the cave."

"How do you know that?"

He pointed at the spears. "Anyone else would have taken the weapons, the lanterns, hell they'd taken the case and come back for more. Foxface's not interested in fighting it out, she's trying to outlast us all. She just took what she could pack up and carry without slowing her down. She'd be too smart to come back thinking I might catch her."

Katniss nodded. "But that's not all. Remember Cato was in the forest, it took him a good minute to get to Clove when she died."

"Yeah, I think he was looking for you."

"Me?"

Saint John nodded. "Cato's well trained. I think he was waiting for you to take a shot at the first person that tried for the bags. Then he moves in and kills you. Classic way to take out an archer." He paused for a second before saying, "Guess in retrospect my plan could have gotten you just as dead as going there yourself." He looked into her grey eyes feeling unbelievably guilty for being mad at her. He wished he could just take her away from all this and find some soft quiet beach and spend his life making her happy. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you Kitten."

"I'm sorry too. Sorry I didn't listen to you. Sorry I didn't trust you. Sorry I made you mad." They stared in each other's eyes for a few seconds before she placed her right hand behind his neck. She gently pulled him down and kissed him.

Saint John closed his eyes enjoying the moment, a moment that lingered longer than any of the others. He opened his mouth and gently tried to touch her tongue with his. Katniss seemed shocked and broke the kiss. She looked at him with a mix of surprise and amusement. Saint John also saw what he thought was desire. He smiled, slipped his left arm under her right shoulder and pulled her forward. She let out a small scream as her body curved around his her hand landing in his lap. He caught and cradled her head in his right hand protecting it. She had a surprised look on her face that was quickly replaced by an amused smile. He bent forward and gave her a proper kiss. This time she followed his lead and they shared their first real lover's kiss. He took that as a sign and let his feelings be his guide. He started kissing her cheek working is way down to her neck. Katniss squirmed and moved her neck away laughing. Saint John looked at her with an amused smile. "Kat, you really are ticklish. We could have fun with that." She smiled as warmly as he'd ever seen on a girl. Her eyes told him she wanted more but his mind kept telling him it was a bad idea. Not here in front of an entire country. And for the first time since entering the arena he thought of Gale. It was one thing to play a game to get her out alive but another to make love to a woman his best friend told him he loved. He kissed her nose and mouthed, "Not here Kitten," She lied her head on his lap and he started stroking her hair gently. After a few moments a slightly frustrated Katniss frowned and tried to sit back up but she was pinned between him and the cave wall. Saint John moved over giving her room, helped her sit up and put his arm around her shoulders. They sat quietly watching the rain fall. The occasional flash of lightening lit up their little rock valley in strange blue shadows. After a long while in each other's arms they decided the sleeping bag would be warmer. Saint John found their socks were dry enough to wear as was his shirt. They both put on the socks and he noticed Katniss watching him pull his shirt back on; he didn't call her on it. If their roles were reversed he'd enjoy a good stare as well. Katniss insisted on taking first watch and as tired as Saint John felt he wasn't going to argue. A little after midnight Katniss woke him to take over so she could sleep. She tried to give him the night vision glasses but he refused. They weren't much better than his own eyes now that they were adjusted to the dark. He let her curl up next to him enjoying the heat of her body against his. Without realizing it he started singing that song again until he was certain she was asleep. He closed his eyes and let his body rest and heal some more. The next day promised to be a busy one of hunting and gathering food and perhaps getting them one step closer to home.

Only the next day was no different than the previous two. Well, there was one possible difference; it might have been raining even harder. A clap of thunder so loud that the cave shook caused Saint John open his eyes. He looked at the slightly lighter sky indicting it was another day and asked sarcastically, "Seriously?" Katniss threshed calling out for her father in her sleep. Saint John lied down next to her, placed his right arm around her and whispered, "Shhh, it's ok, Kitten. It's only the rain." He held her until she calmed a bit and sat back up. He thought, So much for hunting for anything today. He reached over to the pack and grabbed a water bottle and the glass fuel reservoir he took from the lantern. In between drinks of water he finished building his Molotov. Filling it with kerosene he cut a small piece of plastic from the sheet and tied it to the bottle's lip with some fishing line. That would seal the opening so the kerosene didn't leak out. Then using the lantern's wick as the fuse he cut a slit in the plastic and fed it through. It still leaked a little until he heated the blade of a knife in the flame of the other lantern and carefully melted the plastic around the fuse to seal it. He'd just finished his bomb when he felt Katniss stirring next to him. He looked over just in time to see her roll over and look up at him.

At first she smiled when she saw him. Then another roar of thunder reminded her the weather hadn't improved in the least. She rolled back away from him and said, "I want to go home."

He laughed. "Yeah me too. But it doesn't look like that's going to happen today." He looked at the ceiling and yelled, "But I'd settle for the rain to stop!"

They both stared at the ceiling waiting for the Gamemaker's to grant his request. When another blast of lightening lit up their cave for a fraction of a second Katniss asked, "You didn't expect that to work right?"

He smirked. "No, not really." He looked up again and said, "But I am wondering why their making it rain for three straight days. Watching everyone sitting around in shelters trying to stay dry can't be very entertaining."

Katniss rolled back towards him and suggested, "Maybe their trying to drown us or wash us out of the cave and force us into the open."

"Yeah, well another day of this and that creeks going to be high enough to force us out."

She rested her head on her right elbow and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Arts and crafts," and handed his improvised firebomb to her.

She examined the glass bulb and asked, "This is your Muskitov or whatever?"

He laughed. "Molotov. It's called a Molotov Cocktail."

She gave it back to him. "Whatever you call it, I'm not sure how much good it's going to be. I mean Cato's not just going to stand there and let you hit him with it."

He chuckled at her comment. Her teasing him didn't bother him at all. It also kept her mind off the fact that she had to be starving. He replied, "Perhaps you underestimate my throwing arm." He stared at her with a straight face. She stared back trying to make him smile before she did. It was an old childish game but still amusing. A smile slowly crept across Katniss' face forcing her to cover her face with her right hand. Saint John smile and thought, I win and explained other uses for the bomb. "We can throw it in front of Cato. A wall of fire would stop him maybe long enough for you to shoot him." Katniss nodded her face grim. "Or we might need to burn Foxface out of her hole or maybe set the field Thresh's been hiding in on fire."

Katniss shuddered and replied, "Burnings a horrible way to die."

He shrugged in return. "Don't know of many good ways to die." He looked at her. He knew how she felt and said, "I don't like the idea of burning people to death either but it might come to that. They have to die for us to get out of here."

"Yeah I know its just…"

He gently touched her face. "It's ok, you don't have to explain." He looked at the bandaged wound over her right eye and said, "We should probably check each other's wounds and redress them with clean bandages."

Saint John gently removed the bandage over her right eye and examined the wound. The skin had begun to close over back together and the scabs were solid enough to prevent any more bleeding. He redressed that wound and asked her if she had any others that should be checked. He looked at her Tracker-Jacker stings on her neck and knee, both had become hard dried welts that would fall off on their own in time. She showed him the burn on her calf from the fireball. He touched the new pink skin in amazement. He knew the Capital had pretty advanced medical technology but he'd seen dermal regeneration to this level only one other place. When he finished she smiled at him, padded the sleeping bag next to her and said, "Your turn."

Katniss started by checking his stings. She decided they could stand more treatment and placed chewed leaves on them securing the leaves in place with pieces of her undershirt. He lifted his shirt and removed the dirty bandage so they both could look at his belly wound. Katniss took a bottle of water and washed the dried blood away. The long, ugly laceration looked like it had been healing for at least a week instead of a few days. The skin had reformed under the thick scabs into a large dark purple thick scar. The fishing line stitches were causing annoying pinching sensations as his skin healed around them. Saint John considered using a knife the cut the stitches out but decided against it. Too bad Katniss did a very good job stitching him up, keeping the stitches small and close together. If he tried to cut them out he ran the risk of cutting the wound open again. So he'd put up with the annoyances until the game was over. Katniss reached for the medical kit to re-bandage his stomach. He stopped her. "Leave it open for a while, let it air out."

She nodded, replaced the medical kit back in her back and asked, "So, now what?"

Saint John thought, that's a good question. He looked at the door listening to the constant rain knowing that hunting for food or targets was out of the question. Fishing was out as well unless he could build a net big enough to drape across the entire creek and snag them. He looked at what he had to work with and decided a net was out as well. He whispered quietly, "This sucks." He looked over to his young friend, tired to smile and asked, "Don't know, what do you want to do Kat?"

"Besides going home?"

He laughed. "Yeah, besides that." He handed her some water and said, "Here, drink. The water will fool our stomachs into thinking their full and our bodies could use a good flushing."

She took the water, looked at him and asked, "Flushing?"

"Yeah, with everything we've been exposed to our kidneys could stand a little more water flowing through them."

Katniss shrugged and drank from the bottle and handed it back to him. Saint John finished the water, lied back and placed his left arm around Katniss drawing her closer to him. "Here, take a nap. Conserve energy and keep us both warm."

Katniss turned towards him, lied her head on his shoulder and placed her hand on his chest. Katniss asked in a child's voice, "Saint John, sing to me?"

"You like my singing?"

"No, not really but I like the song."

He laughed. "Everyone's a critic. Never heard you sing. Bet you sound like a hoarse goat."

She looked up at him with her usual scowl. She slapped his chest and replied, "I have a wonderful singing voice, almost as pretty as my fathers."

He smirked at her and said, "Prove it."

Her scowl turned into a sad frown like she was remembering something very painful. He was about to tell her it was alright, she didn't have to sing when she started singing the same old lullaby she sang to Rue as she died. Her voice was exquisitely beautiful making the song come alive with hope and promise of a better place beyond this one. When she finished Saint John sat there in awe. He couldn't remember hearing anything so lovely in his entire life. It took a few minutes before he could speak again. "I take it back, Katniss that was incredible, hauntingly beautiful." He looked down at her studying her sad face for a few seconds, "How come I've never heard you sing before?"

She didn't answer at first. She buried her face in his chest like she was trying to hide from him. He was puzzled for a second wondering why she was afraid to answer that simple question until he remembered they weren't alone. Unless there was a fight going on in the rain the cameras were most likely right in them, the tragic star crossed lovers of District 12. He bent his head down towards hers and whispered, "You don't have to say anything. It's none of their business." He kissed her temple gently and sat back up.

Katniss came out from her hiding spot, looked up at him and said, "I don't sing anymore, except to my sister. Not since my father died." Saint John started stroking her back very gently, so lightly she could barely feel it. She closed her eyes and lied quietly for several seconds before asking, "That song you sing, I've never heard it before; where did you learn it?"

"it's a very old love song, written by a music group called Aerosmith almost two hundred years ago. It's not one of my favorites but it is how I feel about you." He hugged her tighter. "You're the second person I sung to."

She looked up and asked, "Second, who's the first?"

He studied her face for a second. He was expecting anger and jealously but saw none of that in her grey eyes and attractively plain features. Instead he saw true curiosity. He wondered if she was really too naive to be jealous of another girl. Or maybe she really didn't care enough about him to be jealous. He decided it might be best not to know the answer and replied, "Ashley, I used to sing it to her before she died." He laughed at a sudden memory and continued, "She said I had a horrible voice too but wanted me to sing to her when she couldn't sleep." He smiled at Katniss and started singing as softly as he could. Katniss curled up next to him, her head on his chest and was asleep before he finished the first stance.

There is one problem with using water to trick your stomach into thinking it's full. Now for a guy it's not a big deal but for a girl it's a little more complicated.

Katniss yelled, "It's not funny," from the cave entrance, squatting with her bare butt hanging out an opening holding her pants up with her right hand. "And don't look."

Saint John said with is back to her, "I'm not laughing and I'm not looking." The image of her bare butt hanging out in the rain did make him laugh. "Besides, I can't see anything anyway all the good stuff is hanging out in the rain for the whole country to see." He heard something flying towards his head. He ducked to his right but the stick Katniss threw hit one of the spears holding the plastic sheet in place. The sheet came down dousing Saint John with cold rain water. He inhaled sharply from shock and shook the water off him like a big dog.

Katniss started laughing and said, "Serves you right for laughing at me while I'm trying to pee."

A vicious smile came over his face. "So, this is how you want to pass the time? I'm game." He came at her.

Katniss yelled laughing, "No, stop!"

Saint John pushed her off balance causing her to start falling out the cave opening. He grabbed a hold of her jacket keeping her from falling all the way to the ground.

Katniss placed a death grip in his arm with her free one, still holding her pants up with her right but she was still way too off balance. She couldn't get her feet under her without losing her grip on her pants. She wasn't laughing anymore. "This isn't funny either."

Saint John smirked at her. "It would be if I let go," and started to release his grip.

Katniss yelled, "No," and gripped his arm even tighter.

Saint John grabbed her jacket again keeping her from falling butt first again. He held her there for a few seconds before asking, "You done?"

She scowled at him. "None of your business."

He sighed. "I meant are you done playing around or are you going to end up using your shirt to dry your butt off."

"Oh, yeah I'm done. You win."

He pulled her back up so she could regain her balance. He let go of her jacket and said, "I'd call it a draw." He looked at her for a few seconds still squatting trying to keep her pants from falling down and tried to keep from laughing. He then asked, "And how about a truce before we do something we'll both regret?" She nodded. He crawled back and reconstructed the rain shelter.

Katniss shook the water off the sleeping bag and set it aside to dry off. She sat down in a dry corner of the cave, pulled her knees to her chest and covered them with her coat.

Saint John used his still damp undershirt to dry off his wet hair and sat down next to her. He placed his arm around her shoulders to try to share their body heat. He stared at the hole in the cave entrance and said, "Well that killed about five minutes."

She laughed quietly and replied, "Yeah, what are we supposed to do for the rest of the day? Besides think about food."

He looked at her and thought, No kidding. He was so hungry he felt nauseous. Katniss handed him a few mint leaves to chew. He put them in his mouth but it did little to take his mind off his stomach. The good news was his diarrhea was gone. He could meditate but figured an awake Katniss wouldn't keep still enough to not bring him back out. He thought of teaching her how to enter a trance but since it took him years to learn how to escape deep enough to control his body so it would be a waste of time. Instead he thought of something else that had proven to take peoples mind off their problems before. "Want to play a game?"

"What kind of game?"

"One of us asks a question and the other answers it either with the truth or they make up a story. We talk about it until there's nothing left to talk about. Then the one who asks the question has to decide whether it's the truth or a story. The one who answered it tells them if it's true or not."

She had a worried look on her face and asked, "What if I or you don't want to answer the other's question?"

He smiled. "That's the fun part. You don't want to tell the truth you make something up. All you have to tell the other is if it's true or not. You don't have to confess anything." He could tell she was still worried. "Come on Kat, it'll keep our minds busy." He hugged her tighter for a second and said, "You can go first; ask whatever you want and I'll tell you the truth. Just remember I don't remember anything before five years ago. Ask me anything about my childhood and it will have to be a story."

She sat there for a while before asking, "I don't know what to ask?"

He chuckled. She had to have questions about him. Maybe she was afraid of getting him or her or someone else in trouble. "Try something simple like what's my favorite color or my favorite food?"

"Ok, what's your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Mine's green."

He laughed. "That's not how it works. You ask follow up questions like why blue's my favorite color."

"Ok, why's blue your favorite color?"

Saint John laughed thinking this wasn't going to be very fun if he had to spoon feed her the questions all day. He explained that blue was the color of deep water. And it was the color of the sky and he dreamed of flying through the air. He didn't tell her he had flown through several skies many times before. It was just one of many things he couldn't explain to her without the entire country learning his secret. When he finished Katniss remembered to ask if it was true and he told her yes, blue was his favorite color.

He asked her the same question and let her explain why she liked green. It reminded her of growing plants that meant life to her family. It seemed a bit too basic to him and suspected there was much more to her story. But the beauty of his version of the game; she didn't have to tell him and the country anything she didn't want to. In the real game there were no rules. You had to tell everyone everything no matter how private or embarrassing. It was supposed to help you bond with your teammates. They kept the questions relatively simple. A few Saint John spun a dumb sounding but funny story to make Katniss laugh. After a couple of attempts she was also able to tell a funny story about how she became a better cook then her mother. It was obvious it was a lie but still funny and best of all it took up some time. Saint John was the first to ask a serious question; he asked about her token. Katniss hesitated but explained her pin was a Mockingjay.

Mockingjays were a merger of a genetically created bird called a Jabberjay and a mocking bird. Jabberjays were used by the Capital to gather intelligence about the rebels during the last revolution. When they were no longer needed they were sent out in the wild to die. However, instead of dying out they mated with mocking birds and created a new species.

Katniss told him that the mayor's daughter Madge gave it to her before she left on the train for the Capital. She told him that Cinna had pinned it to her jacket before she entered the tube to the arena. She ended her story by telling him that Rue knew she could trust her because of her pin. When she finished Saint John asked if the story was true and all she could do was nod.

Katniss asked about his token. He pulled the gold cross over his head and showed it to her. He explained the dragon's head whose mouth that held it to the simple black cord was the a symbol of the Vikings and that it was at the front and back of their raiding ships. The cross was a mergence of the old Norse and Christianity. The cross symbolized the hammer Thor, the Norse god of thunder carried, and how the son of God Jesus was executed. He told her that Christianity used to incorporate the old pagan gods into their faith to assimilate the new culture into theirs. Then as time went by they slowly remove the pagan gods leaving only theirs to be worshipped. He told her he didn't remember who gave it to him, he didn't remember a time when he didn't have it. A few days ago that would have been the truth. But after the Tracker-Jackers he could picture his grandmother handing it to him before he left his home. He felt bad about lying, like he was insulting his grandma's memory but it was one of those things he didn't dare tell her while they were being watched.

He asked her about her other friends in District 12. Katniss looked down at the cave floor and told him she didn't have any other friends besides him and Gale. She then looked scared and horrified for a second. Saint John wondered why for a second and then realized it was Gale. The two of them had not spoken of him since the Reaping. Saint John hadn't mentioned both to protect him and it wouldn't look good for the whole lover thing if everyone knew they both hunted with another guy. He also suspected Katniss didn't want to include him in their discussions for the same reason. He changed the subject by asking about Madge. Katniss explained that they did eat lunch together and teamed up for different school functions but they never spoke.

Saint John considered what she said for a few seconds and said, "Madge is your friend. She proved it by giving you something important to her. Something that could remind you of her and of home and what you are fighting to get back to. Actions can speak louder than words Kat." He gave her a few minutes to think about what he said before asking, "So, I think it's true, is it?"

Katniss nodded. She sat there silent for a several minutes before saying, "I have a question but its kind of personal. You don't have to answer it but I'd like to know the truth."

"Alright, go ahead."

"You told me you only sang that song to Ashley and me; how close were you two?"

Saint John closed his eyes and smiled. "She was a friend, her, Snake, Jordan, Sven; we worked together. We taught each other how to fight, hunt, survive."

She gave him that cute puzzled look again. "Why did you sing that song to her if she was just a friend?"

He shrugged. "She liked it, reminded her of someone else. Someone I never knew."

She looked down and said quietly, "Did you love her?"

He shook his head. "No, not really but I do miss her." He laughed quietly. "Could use her help right now."

"Great fighter. Taught me a few things." He looked over at Katniss smirking. "She could shoot too, nearly as good as you."

She smiled slightly embarrassed and asked, "What happened to them, you're friends?"

He closed his eyes and looked down. Saint John drew on the many sad memories he had to help him appear he was in pain. When he was ready he looked up and replied, "They're dead. I'm the only one left."

She looked up at him sadly. "I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry."

He kissed her forehead and replied, "No, I should tell you. Of all the people in the world you need to know this." He paused mostly for drama, after all it was a show and said, "You see Katniss, the arena isn't the first time I've taken human lives." Saint John began to tell a very sad detailed stories about how each of them died from disease or fighting in pits like the one behind the hob. He told her how he killed seven men that were raping a beaten Ashley. How he stayed with her holding her, singing to her until she died. He refused to look at her during his story hoping she would remember what he told her when this began; that all warfare was deception and she was only to believe him completely if he was looking her in the eye.

Katniss kept hugging him whispering, "I'm so sorry."

He held her tightly not sure what to do. He wanted to tell her it was a lie. He wanted to tell her Ashley died in an accident and he wasn't even there when it happened. The story was a lie but his guilt was real. He whispered to her, "Art of War."

She looked up at him confused for a second. Then her look turned to anger when she thought he was playing her. He thought she was going to storm off and ruin everything until her anger suddenly changed to understanding. He wasn't playing her, he was playing the audience, he was playing potential sponsors. He smiled, kissed her forehead again and said, "That's why I had to volunteer, that's why I had to be here for you. I couldn't let it happen again." That wasn't a lie either. He may not have been there when Ashley died but there were plenty that he could have saved if he'd been good enough. Frustration was building in him again. He needed to vent and might has well try to get a laugh out of it as well. He looked up and yelled, "Hey Haymitch, I might let you live if you send us some food!" He waited a few seconds and looked down at Katniss. He shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

Katniss started laughing and yelled, "How about it Haymitch, you too drunk to help or our we so boring that the sponsors left?"

Saint John laughed. "Maybe he took the sponsors money and asked Ceaser about his tailor? Maybe he's getting fitted for a glow in the dark suit?"

"Bet he'd look real good at our funeral."

Saint John laughed louder and hugged her tightly. "Yeah well the jokes on him cause were not going to die. Not until I've had a chance to break my foot off in his ass. So, it's my turn. Let's see what should I ask you?"

"You make that sound a bit ominous."

"Shh, I'm thinking."

"Don't strain yourself."

He gently slapped her forehead. "Ha, ha. I got it." He looked down at her with an evil smirk. "So Kat, tell me how well do you know young Peeta Mellark?"

It took a extreme will to keep from laughing at the look Katniss gave him. She shook her head and started saying he was the baker's son and that they were in school together.

Saint John held up his right hand and said, "And he has brothers. His father likes fried squirrel and his mother is a cheap, mean spirited shrew but that's not what I mean."

Katniss gave him a confused scowl obviously not sure what he meant but certain she wasn't going to like it. Saint John explained the look in Peeta's eyes when he passed him on the Reaping stage. The look that made him think he wanted to go into the arena with her. Saint John put his hands behind his head and asked looking at the ceiling, "Now why do you suppose he'd want to do that?"

Katniss replied with more than a little anger in her voice, "How would I know?" She got up and moved to the cave entrance. She asked angry, "Maybe he wanted to kill me?"

He shook his head. "No that wasn't the impression I got."

She yelled, "Maybe you're wrong, it's not like you've been right a lot lately."

Saint John laughed. "Ouch." He knew he should drop this but figured he was already in trouble with her by just asking. He thought if he pushed it a little he could get out of trouble. He doubted he could make it much worse. "Hitting a nerve am I?" She sat at the entrance refusing to look at him or say anything. He smiled and asked, "You think he's cute don't you?" He thought he'd seen all her scowls but the one she gave him made him glad the bow was still by him. He held out both his hands and smiled. "It's ok Kat, you can admit it. I'm sure lots of girls think he's attractive with that blonde hair and muscles and all." She turned back around and stared at the camouflage door. He wondered if she felt something for him. He knew her admitting she liked another guy would destroy the lover's game but he wanted to know. He wanted to know if he was wasting his time trying to convince her he loved her. He knew he could deal with it and it wouldn't change the fact that he'd die or kill for her but still he wanted to know. He said softly, "Kat, it's ok if you like him. Obviously he likes you. If you think he'd make you happy I'm cool with it and I'm sure…"

Katniss interrupted by saying softly, "I don't like him. I don't like anyone."

"Ok, I'm confused. Why are you so mad by me suggesting that you like him?"

Katniss put her head against her arm and replied, "He's the boy with the bread."

It was Saint John's turn to scowl. "The boy with the bread? Um yeah, he works in a bakery, it fits he'd have bread."

Katniss turned towards him tears rolling down her cheeks. "That's not what I mean." She told him the story of how Peeta tossed her a couple of loaves of bread on a raining night when she and her family was starving. She told him that the next day she saw Peeta had a black eye and she assumed he took a beating because of his kindness. Then at the end of the day she saw dandelions growing in a field and decided how she was going to feed her family. She looked down at her feet in shame when she said, "I didn't even thank him."

Saint John replied causally, "Think he knows how grateful you are now." He looked up and said, "I'm grateful too. Peeta Mellark if it wasn't for you I'd never met Katniss. You helped make her who she is and to some degree you're responsible for both of us being alive." He picked up a bottle, held it up to the ceiling, said, "Here's to you Peeta, I owe you a drink when and if I get back," and took a drink.

Katniss looked up in disgust. "You can be such an ass."

He looked back at her. "Well, yeah but I'm being sincere this time. I'm really thanking him. I owe him. If it wasn't for Peeta Mellark I'd never met you. It's one of those debts I'll never truly repay."

She said quietly, "I know the feeling."

Saint John felt a need to make peace with her. The cave was too small for them to continue fighting. "Kat, look, I was just teasing you. I thought we could have a little fun with it and we'd laugh afterwards." He paused for a second and continued quietly, "I'm sorry I pushed you. I didn't want to hurt you." When she didn't say anything he believed he'd gone too far. "Ok, maybe we should stop the game. It's getting too personal for both of us."

He was surprised when Katniss said, "I lied to you."

He frowned at her and replied, "Kat, were done. You don't have to say anything else."

"No, I have to say this. You told me before the parade you have to tell people you care about important things before its too late." She turned around to face him, pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly. "Saint John, remember I told you I walked away from the fighting pit before the fight with the miner's started."

He nodded.

"Well, I didn't, I couldn't. I saw you standing there while others took bets that you'd get beaten and I was so worried for you I wanted to jump down and stop it. Then I saw what you could do. Three miner's all of them like twice your size and they didn't even touch you. You knocked one of them out with a single punch and broke another's arm and leg…"

"Actually, I dislocated his elbow and knee. The femur's the biggest bone in the body and it's covered by the thickest muscle in the body. It's really hard to get enough leverage to break it with a single kick…" He noticed the evil scowl on her face again, looked down at his feet and said, "Sorry."

She looked at her feet and laughed. She looked back up smiling and continued, "I was so relieved when you weren't hurt and scared because I never seen anyone fight like that. Then we started working together and you helped us feed our families and all I saw was this boy who would do anything to help me. Well when you weren't acting like a fool or teasing me trying to make me laugh." She looked down at her feet again. "Then I see you volunteer as a Tribute and I thought I was dead. You could hunt and fish as well I can. You'd survived in the woods without a house or anyone to help you. And the way you fight, I thought you'd tear me in half and the best I could hope for was you'd kill me quickly. I was scared out of my mind until I saw you comforting Prim during the replay on the train. I tried to figure out what you could have said to her to calm her down. Then you told us you volunteered to help me win and somehow I knew you were telling me the truth." Katniss stopped wiping tears from her eyes.

Saint John wanted to go over to her and tell her she didn't need to say anymore. She didn't need to bear her soul to a country that had no right to invade her privacy.

Katniss collected herself and continued, her voice cracking with emotion, "And the only thing I've been thinking since then was how much I didn't want you to die. For the last year almost every happy dream I've had you've been in it. One moment I'm so mad at you I want to shoot an arrow in your butt and the next all I want to do is hold you and never let you go. You make me sick to my stomach and then I feel I can do anything as long as you're with me. I look at you and smile…" Her face began to turn a bright red. She started giggling and buried her face in her knees. It took several minutes for her to come back out. She looked him in the eye and said, "Saint John, there's never been anyone but you." Katniss voice failed her and she buried her face back in her knees again.

Saint John sat still for a while trying to process what he just heard. The few times she looked in his eyes told him she was telling the truth. Her embarrassment also suggested her feeling were genuine. He felt annoyed not at her but at the situation. He thought it was wrong that she confessed her love and felt humiliated in front of an entire country. He knew she needed him right then. He crawled over to her and sat next to her. He gently stroked her hair trying to coax her out of hiding. When she looked up he studied her eyes seeing tears still swelling in them. He smiled and gently wiped her eyes. Just as they were about to kiss something hitting the roof of their cave ended the moment. Saint John put his finger to his lips and pointed at her bow. Katniss dove forward, grabbed her bow and rolled onto her back an arrow ready to fly through one of the holes in the roof. Saint John also drove grabbing the double bladed axe and crawled quickly next to her. He peeked through the holes looking for Cato or Thresh but instead saw a basket attached to a silver parachute. He let out an excited yell and crashed though the entrance. He handed the basket to Katniss and rebuilt the damaged camouflage. They opened the basket and found a feast of rolls, apples, goat cheese and Katniss' favorite a pot of lamb stew over wild rice. He looked at her beaming. "Hungry?"

Katniss started diving into the basket with both hands. Saint John stopped her. "We should pace ourselves. It's been a while since we had real food."

She nodded and dished out a small portion of stew onto the fine china plates while Saint John cut an apple in half and split a roll. They tried to make it last but it was a losing battle. With their food wolfed down they both sat there staring at the leftovers. Katniss said, "Ok, we wait an hour then eat a little more."

"Sounds good." He thought, This is going to be the longest hour in history. He stretched out the mostly dry sleeping bag back in its place under the plastic awning while Katniss lit their working lantern. They sat curled up against each other in the sleeping bag trying not to think about the food a few feet away. They were both talked out but Saint John found himself whistling another tune; one that reminded him of the arena. After a few minutes Katniss started whistling with him. When they finished that song he taught her another. By the time they were on the third song they couldn't take it anymore.

The anthem started playing just as Katniss dished up another two servings of stew. Saint John looked out the hole and saw something that made his heart sink. Katniss asked him something but he was too occupied with what he was looking at even though it didn't surprise him. "Katniss." She said something he still didn't hear. He looked over at her still getting their plates set up with food. "Katniss." When she looked at him questioningly he said, "Thresh's gone." A look of sadness came over her face as she abandoned the plates and crawled next to him to see for herself. He said, "Must have thought the cannon was another crack of thunder." He looked down at her, placed his arm around her shoulder and asked if she was alright.

Katniss replied without looking at him, "Fine, let's eat," and crawled back to the plates.

They both ate without saying anything. When they finished Katniss still looked bothered. He touched her face gently and asked, "You good?"

She scowled at him. "Why wouldn't I be alright. He's just another Tribute right?"

He shook his head. "No he was more than that. Thresh was an honorable man. He played this game by his own rules and I'm sure he died on his own terms." Even though she was trying to play it off like she didn't care he knew her well enough to know it bothered her. He thought about whether he should tell her what he knew about Thresh, what he'd seen in his eyes. "It was inevitable Kat, Thresh lost his will to survive."

She looked at him questioningly again. "What makes you say that?"

"When I had him at the Cornucopia, when I was about to bury that blade in his gut I saw guilt in his eyes. Overwhelming guilt. Guilt, sadness, despair can kill you as surely as a blade can."

"What would he have to be guilty about?"

"The eyes can tell you what someone's feeling, not why they feel it. But if I had to guess I'd say it was over Rue."

"Rue? Why would he feel guilty about Rue? He didn't seem to care about her."

"That's why. Rue got more comfort and help from two Tributes from a different district than her own."

"But that's the Hunger Games. You make temporary alliances but in the end you're out for yourself."

He held up his finger. "Except this year. I was allied with you from the beginning and you said they changed the rules."

Katniss thought for a second. "They changed the rules after she died."

"Might be why he was feeling guilty. He might have thought if he teamed up with her from the beginning he might have kept her alive."

She shook her head. "But he couldn't have known they'd change the rules."

He took her ice cold hand in his. He held it with both hands warming it. "Guilt isn't logical. Our feelings defy logic most of the time. That's why we have to control them or they could destroy us."

"Then why did he grab the bags and run? To help us?"

"Maybe to help himself. Maybe he felt he owned us or maybe letting Cato chase him to help us escape gave him a purpose. That might be how he chose to go, that might have been his terms."

Katniss was looking at him so intently he was beginning to feel self conscious, like he was naked. The idea of being naked around her wasn't an unpleasant thought at all. He was so lost in that fantasy it took a couple of times before he realized she was asking him a question. "Huh?"

Katniss laughed. "I said you look tired. Want to sleep first?"

He suddenly felt very tired. He yawned, stretched and replied, "Yeah, I'm tired. Guess the emotional enema took a lot out of me."

"What's an enema?"

He laughed and told her to never mind. He crawled into the sleeping bag but insisted she lye next to him to stay warm. She got in next to him, blew out the lantern and closed the bag around them both.

Saint John rolled over with his back to her and tried to get comfortable on the hard cave floor. He felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. Katniss looked strange wearing the night vision glasses. She smiled, took his face in her hands and directed his head to her chest. He hesitated for a second but gave in. Saint John let the warmth of her body and the soft regular beating of her heart put him to sleep.

Saint John woke to Katniss whispering his name and gently stroking his face. He looked up at her smiling enjoying her closeness and the silence of the woods. It was really quiet. The insects and night animals making soft comforting sounds. He sat up and said, "The rain's stopped."

"Nothing get's past you."

He smirked and gently elbowed her shoulder.

She elbowed him back and asked, "I'm falling asleep here, think you can stay awake?"

He put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Sure." He put his right arm behind her so she could use it as a pillow and pulled her close. He leaned over so he could whisper in her good ear, "Get some rest Kitten. Tomorrow we hunt. With any luck we'll end this."

She nodded and replied softly, "We need to be more careful. I dozed off a couple of times."

He stroked her back. "Yeah, me too." He then kissed her cheek. "Don't worry. Cato shows up the only question will be if he dies by your arrows or my axe." Saint John sat there listening to her soft erythematic breathing. He felt normal, like his old self, for the first time since the game began. Invigorated by the rich food and rest he quietly crawled out of the sleeping bag so he didn't disturb her sleep. He tucked the two tomahawks and the short curved sword in his belt and went out into the night. He looked up at the full moon wondering how long they'd been in the arena. The moon was more or less full when the left 12. He stared at the moon for several minutes not quite certain a whole month had passed. Maybe the sky was a projection of some kind to keep them from disoriented about the time. He studied what stars he could see. According to the patterns he thought they were still in the same hemisphere 12 was in. But if it was a projection than he'd be wrong of the location as well. He remembered his extensive classes in astronomy picking out stars that looked familiar to him. It would be easier if he could find the star pattern known as Orion but it was the wrong time of the year to see that constellation. He found the Big Dipper, looked over to the North star and then squinted above it. He could barely see a faint blue glow and knew he found what he was looking for. Memories of Shannon trying to escape the disaster that was coming. He was standing there guarding, waiting for the invaders to arrive and try to buy the civilians time to get away. Shannon looked straight at him with fear in her eyes. He was certain his childhood friend couldn't recognize him in his battle armor but still every now and then he wondered if she did. He shook his head and looked down at the fast running creek at his feet not more than ten feet from the entrance to their home. He spent the rest of the night thinking about his friends and comrades that no longer lived and wondering if Jordan was right. He wondered if he could do this alone. Only he wasn't alone, he had Katniss and although untrained she had all the skills he possessed at her age. He smiled at the thought, it was literally another lifetime ago.

The sun started creeping up in what Saint John guessed was the eastern sky. He wanted to watch the sun rise, take off his shirt and let it warm his skin. But they had a busy day of hunting ahead of them. Katniss hunting for food and him hunting for the last two kids. If he was lucky this would be Katniss' last day here. He went back in the cave and quietly sat next to the still sleeping Katniss. She looked so peaceful sleeping there until suddenly she screamed, "Rue!" and started thrashing around. Saint John gently grabbed her right wrist and curled up next to her holding her. He whispered, "Shh, its ok Kitten. It's ok, it's almost over." Then he realized he was whispering in her bad left ear. His holding her did calm her somewhat although she kept calling out names in her sleep. First Rue, then her sister Prim, then dad and finally she called out his name right before opening her eyes with a start. He tried to comfort her, smiling warmly and said, "Morning , Kitten."

She sat up quickly and hugged him. "I dreamed I was standing alone in the square. Everyone was dead around me and everything was burned down."

He held her, brushed a few stray hairs from her face and said softly, "I was only a dream Kat. Prim your mom and Gale are still alive waiting for you back home and I'm still here with you." He gave her a quick kiss and said mocking Effie's prissy accent, "It's going to be a big, big day!"

She gently pushed him away and said laughing, "Come on, let's have some breakfast."

She didn't have to tell him twice. He leaped over to the basket and dug out the plates they used and washed the night before. He stared down at the food and asked, "How much should I dish out?"

She smiled. "Let's finish the stew, it'll keep us going while we hunt. We can save the rolls, cheese and apples for later."

He looked down at the more than half full tureen thinking. "The survivalist in me says that's a bad idea but my stomach's saying yes, yes, yes, so let's do it." He divided the remaining stew and handed her a heaping plate. He ate slowly using a fork making it last as long as possible. Eating slowly is better for digestion and made it less likely to get sick. Katniss started out slowly but abandoned her fork and started scraping it with her fingers getting every drop off the plate. He started laughing at her enthusiasm for her food.

She scowled at him again. "What? It's not like manners matter in the arena."

"I'm sure they do to Effie. Bet the plates were her contribution to our little picnic." Then he smirked and licked his plate clean. He then tossed it to the side, looked up and said, "Here's to Effie Trinket, you know we love you."

Katniss laughed and yelled at the ceiling, "Yes we do Effie, sorry the manner never took." Then she looked at Saint John and a smile came over her face. She looked up and yelled, "Hey Haymitch, you know some coffee and hot chocolate would be nice right now."

"And whiskey."

Katniss looked at him in mock horror. "They can't send you alcohol in the arena." She continued in a Capital accent, "It's simply not done."

"Really?" He reached into her pack, pulled out the plastic bottle of rubbing alcohol that was part of their medical supplies and held it up.

She gave him a look of contempt that only a teenage girl can give. She shook her head and said, "Fine, you drink that and go blind. Then I can be your eyes and you can be my ears."

He looked at the bottle, replied, "Not that thirsty," and tossed it back in the pack.

She laughed quietly. "Let's get going. I think our best bet is going back to my old hunting ground, but its a couple hours walk."

Saint John started filling the water bottles and replied, "You're call Kat, you're the huntress."

She looked at him questioningly for a second, then shook her head and asked, "You think we should bring everything?"

Saint John looked around for a second. "Everything we can carry without slowing us down, just in case we can't make it back."

Saint John finished filling the bottles and the jug using up most of the water in their crate. "Hey Kat, think we should make more water before we leave?"

She stopped packing for a second and thought. "No, if we don't come back we'd be wasting a lot of iodine." She went back to packing up the plastic sheet and sleeping bag.

He nodded back, replied, "Yeah, good call," and handed her one of the water bottles and the jug. He took the spears, looked down at the crate and had an evilly disgusting thought. "Kat, maybe we should pee in the crate."

She gave him a disgusted look and asked exasperated, "What the hell for?"

He smirked at her. "Call it a personal gift to anyone that steals our stuff."

She shook her head. "You do what you want. Just wait until I leave."

"Why you don't want to watch me pee?"

"You're sick."

"No, I think I feel insulted."

She shook her head, grabbed the pack and made her way to the makeshift door.

"Kat." No response. "Kat." Still no response from the annoyed girl. He yelled, "Kat!"

She turned and yelled, "What?"

He pointed at the picnic basket. "You forgot to pack our food."

They both walked barefoot hanging their tied together shoes on their shoulders until they reach the end of the shallow valley. They put their shoes back on and head in to the woods. Saint John paused for a few minutes to destroy the spears by jamming them into trees and them bending the metal shafts around them. They moved silently through the woods. Katniss in front an arrow notched on the bow watching for both animals and Tributes to shoot. Saint John was off to her left and behind carrying the back, his double bladed axe in his hand. His body was ready for a fight, muscles, now fueled by the resent feast and enhanced adrenaline were swelled and stronger than any normal human, his nerves and mind quick, sharp and in his complete control thanks to the specially created stimulants that flowed through his body. Even at this distance he could hear Katniss' breathing and heart beat. He'd missed this feeling, his body healthy and ready for combat. But they encountered no one as they approached the tree Katniss and Rue camped before she destroyed the Career's supplies. They decided their most effective way to get food was to separate. He didn't like the idea of being apart but she had a better chance of shooting food if he wasn't hanging around. Also while she scared up meat he could look for roots, berries and watch out for anyone that tried to sneak up on them. Katniss taught him Rue's tune and they agreed to whistle it every five minutes. If they didn't hear from each other they agreed to return to the tree and wait. Although if he thought Katniss was in danger Saint John had no intention of standing around waiting.

Saint John used a knife to dig up some roots that Katniss told him were edible by the edge of a small stream. He went back to the tree, took off the pack and laid out the plastic to store what he found. It didn't take long for him to have a good sized collection of roots, wild onions, parsley and a green leafy plant that was known as Miner's lettuce. He found a large bush of berries and started collecting them as well. He looked at the berries and thought they looked like the ones Katniss feed him in the cave. He crushed one in his fingers and looked at the blood red stain his skin. He wished he'd spent more time at the edible plants station but decided to collect them and ask Katniss if they were good. If she didn't know he could toss them out. He placed them on the plastic and headed out for more when he heard something behind him. A barely audible rustling that he'd never hear near the flowing creek or if his senses weren't jacked up on his body's own drugs. He crouched down and crawled back to where he left the food. Through a bush he saw a short girl wearing the same Tribute uniform he wore with long red hear tied up in tight rows down her back. Well, Well, Well, the fox has come out of her hole, he thought. He restrained the thought of killing her right there and decided to follow her. Maybe she could lead him to her camp and he could get back some of their food, equipment and the tent he stole. She stood up and started moving quietly away deeper into the woods. Saint John moved parallel to her keeping trees and bushes between them, stalking her. He heard the Mockingjays repeating Katniss' signal to him. He didn't dare respond so as not to spook his prey. They'd moved maybe 300 hundred meters when she suddenly stood up, coughed and collapsed where she stood. A cannon's report told him she was dead. He crouched down lower and waited a few seconds. If she died from a spear or arrow he'd be able to see it from where he was. He thought maybe Cato had a blow gun or something that shot a very small projectile that he wouldn't see. He crawled on his belly to try to get a better look. He'd pause for a few seconds listening but he couldn't hear anything. If Cato was out there he was being extremely quiet, far quieter than Saint John thought possible. He took the chance, stood up and approached the redhead's body. He used his foot to roll her over on her back still trying to look in as many directions as possible. He glanced down at her right hand and believed he knew how she died. But in case he was wrong he bent down and checked her body for any sign of violence. While he checked he heard Katniss yell his name. He didn't respond at first in case it was a set up. But after a few minutes he knew Cato hadn't killed this girl, he did. Saint John stood up and yelled, "Over here." It took a few more shouts before he saw Katniss crash through the underbrush her bow ready to shoot. He could tell she was royally pissed at him for not answering her and making her worry. He pointed at the dead Foxface and said, "I'm sorry I didn't answer you but I found her stealing our food. I was stalking her hoping she's lead me to her home when he just keeled over. I didn't want to call out in case Cato did it but then I looked at her hands." He pointed at the berries in her left hand.

Katniss knelt down and examined the berries. She stood up, looked at him sadly and said, "My dad called them Nightlock, they're deadly."

He nodded. "Good thing I was going to have you look at them before I ate any." He gave a snort of laughter. "Guess she outsmarted herself." He looked up at a still worried Katniss and asked, "You alright?"

She looked down at Saint John's feet and said in a quiet voice, "I didn't know what happened to you. You didn't answer me and I heard a cannon and I thought…" She looked into his eyes and the fear disappeared, replaced by anger. She yelled, "When two people agree on a signal they answer each other no matter what! They don't ignore each other and wander off trying to get another kill!"

Saint John put his hands up. "Hey, I wasn't looking for another kill. I was trying to get my stuff back. Besides…"

She interrupted, "I know. Killing the others is the only way out but we're a team. We work together and we can't do that if one of us runs off and doesn't answer the other. How would you feel if I ran off trying to kill Cato and you didn't know what was going on?"

"Kat, I know. I'd be out of my mind worrying too." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "You're right, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking beyond getting the stuff back and ending this thing." He was going to say something about taking care of himself until he remembered that she'd been taking care of him for most of the time here. He smiled and said quietly, "Before this started I thought I could take care of myself. I never would have thought you'd have to spend your time taking care of me."

"It's what friends do."

He nodded. "Yes it is. From now on we keep each other in sight, ok?"

"And we answer each other's calls."

"And we answer each other's calls." He hugged her. She hugged him back tighter. He whispered in her right ear, "Forgiven?"

She nodded with tears in her eyes.

Saint John wiped a tear away from her cheek and asked, "So, shoot anything?"

She smiled, took his hand and led him back to the tree. Lying on the plastic sheet were two rabbits and another freshly shot Groosling. Katniss pointed at her kills with the bow and said, "I shot them, you clean them."

He looked over smirking. "So, I get to do all the work this time?"

"Yeah, it's about time you contributed to this team."

He put his arm around her and squeezed gently. "You got it." He looked over his shoulder to where they left Foxface's body. "You know if Cato was around he probably knows we took out Fox. He might start looking for us."

She looked in the same direction and asked in a casual voice, "You worried?"

He smiled. "Nope, figure we might as well build a big fire and cook our food right here. If he's dumb or desperate enough to come here we can end this." He looked at the poison berries and started clearing them off the plastic. "But first I need to get rid of these things."

Katniss yelled, "No wait," and reached into her pack. She pulled out a small bag and put a handful of the berries into it.

Saint John looked at her wondering what she was doing.

Katniss looked at him smiling. "Maybe Cato likes berries. If we catch him following us we can drop the bag, he picks it up, eats them and…"

"And its game over." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Kat, that's sneaky and devious…I like it. Go get us some wood for a fire." As she walked away he called out, "And a couple of branches shaped like Ys and a long stick."

She turned around looking confused.

"I'm going to show you how to properly cook a groosling or whatever this thing is called."

Saint John plucked the bird, gutted it and then started chopping up the onions and parsley. He stuffed the them into the cavity in the bird and then got to work skinning and gutting the rabbits. Katniss gathered a large bundle of wood, including the requested braches, and built a small hot fire. Saint John made a spit out of the branches and let the bird roast slowly over the fire. They also cooked the rabbits and the roots in the hot coals. Cooking the bird took a little longer than Katniss wanted it to but the result was worth the effort. They hadn't planned on eating as much as they did but the stuffed, roasted groosling tasted so good they ate everything but the legs and wings.

Once they finished Katniss said, "We should make camp for the night."

Saint John looked around at the trees and replied, "I think we should go back to the cave." He could see Katniss was about to object and continued, "I know it's a long way but the cave is defendable, near a reliable source of water and as far as we know Cato doesn't know where it is." He then pointed up at the trees. "Besides, I weigh too much to get high enough in any of these trees to stay out of Cato's spear."

Katniss nodded. "Ok, then we should get going, it's going to be dark soon."

He cocked his head to the right. "That was easy."

She smiled and put her arms around his neck. "You're right, for a change."

He smiled at her considering gently pushing her away. Instead he kissed her softly at first but Katniss seemed to want more and it became a little more passionate as it went on. When they separated Katniss whispered, "You know I'm kidding right?"

He frowned at her. "Of course Kitten. You're just teasing me."

She looked into his eyes a little sad. "I think we shouldn't tease each other so much. It getting a little mean and I kind of feel bad doing it."

He smiled warmly. "I don't take it personally. Anything that makes you happy works for me. But maybe you're right. No more teasing you and calling you Kitten."

She frowned and went back to pack up their supplies. She grabbed the pack and looked back at him. "Let's not go too far with this. Put more wood on the fire. Cato will see the smoke and might come by and watch. Might lose a little sleep waiting for us."

Saint John smiled and nodded. He threw several green branches on the fire that would produce a great deal of smoke. Although he didn't think it would work he was impressed with her attempt at psychological warfare against Cato. He also wondered as he followed her what she meant about not going too far with the not teasing thing.

They weren't nearly as careful but still moved quietly through the woods, through the creek and into their cave. Katniss stored her gear, laid out the sleeping bag and a small snack of rolls, goat's cheese and apple slices. Saint John filled and treated their water bottles and jug and spent time camouflaging the cave's entrance. No reason to make it easy for Cato to find them. He sat down on the sleeping bag ate his snack feeling very tired. The side effects of the counter agents as well as the day's activity and lack of sleep the night before were taking its toll. He sat there struggling to stay awake and work out a problem.

Katniss nudged his shoulder and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

He looked over at her, put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She no longer resisted and just curled up on his left side her head resting on his shoulder. He replied thoughtfully, "I'm wondering how this will end." She looked up at him. "There are only three of us left and this is a pretty big territory. Cato's too smart to be lured into an ambush by starting campfires anymore; we've used that one too often. And it's really unlikely that we'll just run into each other walking around hunting."

Katniss looked like she didn't like what she was thinking. "Well, sooner or later the Gamemakers will find some way to force us together. Usually do when things get too boring, like the fire they used on me."

He looked back at the entrance thinking, That's a cheery thought. He tried to sound upbeat when he said, "Great, well the sooner the better." He squeezed her tighter for a second. "Then its home to your sister and my hammock in the woods."

"Oh, no. You don't get to live alone in the woods anymore." He looked down at her smiling face wanting an explanation. She said, "You get to live in your brand new house in Victory Village."

"Victory Village?"

She explained that when the Hunger Games began the Capital build a dozen huge houses on a hill above the square where the Districts victors get to spend the rest of their lives in comfort.

He thought for a second wondering how that was going to work. Well, maybe my house will have a big back yard, the thought. "So, we'll be neighbors with Haymitch?"

She paused for a second thinking and replied, "Yeah, guess so."

He laughed. "Cool, just the three of us sitting around in our back yards reminiscing about the games and drinking the finest in beverages that might make you go blind; sounds like fun."

She laughed. "You two can set around and get drunk. He hates me."

"Haymitch doesn't hate you. He sent you medicine, food. He may not like you, don't think he likes anybody, but he respects you. Otherwise he wouldn't have kept you alive."

She touched his cheek and had him look at her. "Maybe it was your death threat that made him keep me alive."

He smiled, taking her hand in his. "Doubt it. If he was afraid of me all he had to do was not send anything. We'd both be dead and he'd have nothing to worry about. No I think he did what he did because this is the first time in 24 years he really thought one of his Tributes had a chance to win."

"Saint John, how do you think Haymitch won?"

He thought about the question of a while and replied, "Well, I don't think he out fought the others. Maybe he had some good sponsors or teamed up with someone."

She asked in a surprised tone, "You sure were taking about the same Haymitch?"

He laughed. "Kat, that was 24 years ago. 24 years of drinking and watching kids sent off to die takes a lot out of you." Saint John thought for a few more seconds and the red headed girl he inadvertently poisoned today came to mind. He smirked and said slowly, "I think he outsmarted them. He tried to do what Foxface did only he was successful."

She nodded in agreement. She looked up at him and said in a concerned tone, "You tired."

Saint John shook his head. "I'm fine."

She scowled but this time her scowl seemed softer. She gently pulled his arm and said, "Here, go to sleep. I don't think the Gamemakers are going to give us too many quiet nights."

He let her pull him down, wrapped the sleeping bag around them and had him rest his head on her chest. Saint John was already drifting off and said in a sleepy voice, "Wake me in a couple of hours."

Saint John dreamed he was lying on a beach looking over the ocean watching Katniss, Jordan and another woman he didn't know playing with a toddler. A tall very tan man with bronze colored hair was over by the shore laughing. To his right was another man, young, muscular with dirty blonde hair was also lying on the beach sleeping. He recognized that man, Peeta Mellark. Jordan called out his name. He woke up, smiled, got up and walked to the water. Katniss looked back at him and waved. It was a happy dream like the group didn't have a care in the world. He heard Katniss soft voice say his name over and over. He felt something touch his cheek and woke. He opened his eyes and was looking in a pair of very inviting grey eyes.

Katniss said, "Good morning."

He looked around first a little confused where he was and then remembered he was in a cave in the arena. Then he realized the sun was rising. He looked at the young woman he'd fallen in love with and asked in a sad tone, "You didn't wake me?"

She shrugged. "There wasn't any reason to. Nothing happened last night, I wasn't that tired and you needed your sleep." She placed a grossling leg on his chest. "Here, breakfast." She then jumped over him, crawled into the sleeping bag. She kissed him quickly and said, "You eat, I'll sleep. Wake me if anything happens."

He watched her roll over away from him and try to get comfortable. Saint John took off his jacket, rolled it up and placed it under her head to use as a pillow.

Katniss mumbled her thanks and after a few minutes asked, "Saint John, can you sing to me?"

He smiled and replied softly, "Sure." He curled up behind her holding her and sang, "_I could lie awake just to hear you breathing…."_

Once she was asleep he gently let go of her and got up. He ate his breakfast, drank plenty of water and busied himself checking their weapons. Katniss was down to seven arrows but all of them were straight. Her bow was still taught like it was brand new and none the worse for wear. He checked all their knives for chipped blades and dull spots. He used a rock, spit and a careful eye to touch up their edges. When that was done he sat back and stared at the beams of sunlight coming through the holes in the cave ceiling. The cave was very quiet, the only thing he could hear was Katniss' breathing. It seemed too quiet to him but couldn't place what sound was missing. He thought quiet was better than hearing purposely quiet noises and put the missing sound out of his mind. It was afternoon and the cave was heating up rapidly. He smelled something besides the normal musty odor of the cave. It took a few seconds before he realized the smell was him. Damn, I need a bath, he thought. He was going to go to the creek, take a bath, wash out his clothes and then wake Katniss so she could do the same. But first he needed to prove something to himself. He picked up the bow, notched an arrow and aimed at a small hole in the camouflaged entrance. He let the arrow go and it flew straight throw the hole. He smiled, looked over at Katniss and said quietly, "Who can't shoot a bow." He crawled out the entrance to retrieve the arrow and clean up and realized what sound was missing. He called out, "Kat, wake up," and walked out to retrieve the arrow. When he returned he took down the camouflage and said louder, "Kat, wake up."

Katniss stirred in the bag, looked up and asked sleepily, "Yeah?"

"The creek's dry. They shut off the water."

They packed up all their stuff, splitting up the spare knives between themselves. Katniss obviously took the bow while Saint John tucked the smaller axes, curved, almost relic looking sword in his belt and held his battle axe in his hands. His Molotov was in his pocket along with the alcohol bottle.

Katniss touched the dry creek bed and said, "They must have shut off the water last night." She stood up and looked at Saint John concerned. "Guess they're ready for the finale."

He knew as well, the lake. He waved down the dry creek bed and said, "The creek ran into the lake. We can follow the lake shore to the Cornucopia, Cato wouldn't be expecting an attack from that direction."

They walked the several kilometers around the lake to where the game started and watched. After they realized Cato wasn't going to charge at them they looked at each other. Katniss pointed at the Cornucopia and Saint John understood; maybe Cato was hiding in it. He nodded and they started moving towards the golden cone. He moved around the entire structure stopping at the left side of the entrance. His shoulder against the metal he rolled around into the horn ready to kill nothing. Cato was nowhere to be found. He came back out and shrugged. Katniss released the tension on her bow and replaced the arrow in its quiver. They walked back to the lake, replenished their water, sat on the ground and waited.

The sun was beginning to set when Saint John said, "Well, if this is their idea of a finale they need to fire their writers."

She snorted laughter. "What do you want to do? Head back to the cave?"

He shook his head. "God no. We're not walking that far in the dark. Let's get some firewood and build a fire right here. With the lake to our backs we'll see him coming. I doubt he'll use the lake to attack us and if he does we'll hear him."

They headed into the woods and started collecting dry wood. Katniss stops Saint John, points up at a group of mockingjays in the trees and smiles. She sings Rue's four tone song and they begin singing it back. The sound is mesmerizingly beautiful. He looked at her smiling. "That's amazing, I thought they could just whistle not actually sing."

Katniss had a sad look on her face. "I think they remember Rue."

Then the music stopped and was replaced by a loud shrieking. Saint John's combat instincts screamed a silent warning in his mind and triggered his super human abilities. He could hear crashing and fast footfalls heading towards them. He readied his axe and yelled, "Kat, to our right!"

Katniss brought up her bow arrow ready to fly. The crashing became louder, much louder, way too loud to be just one lone person no matter how fast he was running. Cato came thought the tree line running straight at them. Katniss let her arrow fly. It struck Cato in the chest and bounced off. Saint John immediately knew what was in Cato's pack, what he needed desperately, body armor to protect him from Katniss' deadly aim. Well, it might keep out Kat's arrows but its not going to keep me from splitting his skull, he thought and readied to make his strike. Cato ran right between them and didn't slow down. His face was purple and covered in sweat. Judging by the his panting breath Saint John thought he had to have been running hard for a very long time. He and Katniss watched Cato run past him, looked at each other for a fraction of a second and took off after him. Whatever was chasing him it was probably not a good idea to face it surrounded by trees. Get out in the open where Katniss' arrows would be the most effective and he could see what they were and where they were coming from. He ran next to Katniss keeping pace with her and looked over his shoulder not quite believing what was chasing them. A huge beast came into view with a large snout glistening with what looked to be very sharp teeth. It looked vaguely like a wolf with huge powerful hind legs and much smaller forelegs. More like human arms than legs, each paw like hand covered in razor sharp claws. The first one waved its paw and a half dozen more broke out of the woods and joined the chase. They looked like creatures from stories his grandma used to tell him; lycons. A type of werewolf that could change into a combination of both wolf and human. The things were catching up so Saint John grabbed Katniss by the back of her belt and ran as fast as he could. He was half carrying her feet barely touching the ground straight for the only place they could try to make a stand, the Cornucopia. Cato had the same idea and was climbing to the top of the horn's mouth just as Saint John and Katniss arrived. He buried his axe in the ground, pulled out the Molotov and said, "Kat, light it."

She stared at him for the briefest of seconds and fumbled for her matches. Her hands shook as she tried to light one. Saint John grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye. He kept his voice steady to try to calm the terror he saw in the girl's face, "Kat, relax, light the match."

Katniss steadied her hand, struck the match and lit the fuse on the firebomb.

He looked impassively at her, trying to keep her calm and said slowly, "Good, climb on top of the Cornucopia, use your bow to pick them off. Only shoot if you have a killing shot, aim for their throats. Save one arrow for Cato and shoot him in the head, he has body armor. Go!"

She nodded and started climbing the horn.

Saint John watched the approaching horde of creatures heading towards him and smiled. Werewolves, didn't see this coming. I take it back, whoever's writing this thing deserves a bonus, he thought. He waited until the leader was in what he knew was his throwing range and le the flaming bomb fly. The glass ball shattered on the chest of the leader covering it in flame. It howled in pain and tried to snuff out the flames with its paws before rolling to the ground. Saint John pulled out the alcohol bottle, punched a hole in it with a knife and threw it as well. The plastic bottle hit the flames, the alcohol that ran from the hole in its side ignited and the bottle exploded in a cloud of blue fire. Four more of the creatures ran into the fire cloud and started burning. Two more tripped over their burning pack members and started burning as well. The others ran round the withering, burning creatures or used their powerful legs to jump over.

Katniss dropped two in rapid succession, hitting one in its open mouth and another in its throat.

Saint John pulled a tomahawk from his belt, aimed at the closet one and let it fly. The blade split this long snout like face in two. It fell over backwards howling using its paws to try to dislodge the axe from its face. Saint John throws his second tomahawk at another one only this time it bats the axe away in mid flight with its right paw and keeps coming. There was something strange about that one, an almost human quality. Saint John could see dark hair near its head, deadly looking brown eyes and a collar around its neck with a number two written on the bottom. But it was the eyes that shocked Saint John; it was Clove's eyes. He wondered if these sick bastards somehow used the bodies of dead Tributes to create them or are they just made to look like them for shock value. It didn't matter what they were, they still had to be destroyed. Saint John put the thoughts out of his mind, pulled the axe from the ground and drew the sword with his left hand. The Clove one was almost on him when it fell over dead with an arrow in its head.

He heard Katniss yell, "Saint John they're eyes…"

He yelled back, "It doesn't matter, they need to die." A large one with blonde fur and green eyes was on him snarling. He pivoted to his right and ducked. He jabbed his sword into the creature below its throat. The pushed the blade down the Glimmer wolf's belly covering the ground and Saint John in its slippery blood and organs. It fell head first into the golden horn. Saint John, just for good measure, swung his axe around and cut off the things head. He turned to face the others still with his fatal smile on his face. If he had to die at least saving a woman he loved from a bunch of attacking werewolves was original. He said, "Let's dance," and charged the rest of the pack.

Katniss screamed out Saint John's name as he ran into the pack. She knew in her heart he was dead. Even as well as he could fight no human to survive a fight against so many huge, powerful mutts. She buried her despair. She had to help him as best she could. She drew, aimed and shot three arrows killing three more of the things. The last one was so close to her she could see its wild brown eyes, wild black hair and the straw shaped number eleven around its neck. She stood still in shock horrified at what she did. She said quietly, "I killed Rue." She closed her eyes and put that thought out of her mind. "It wasn't Rue, it was a mutt made to look like Rue. They did it to torture me. Rue would never attack me. I released her from the horror they did to her." She opened her eyes certain she would be looking at a dead, Saint John, his body torn apart. But instead she saw him on top of a huge mutt that could only have been Thresh. He stabbed it in the back with his sword and then swung the axe cutting the front part of its head clean off spilling dark grey brain matter on the ground. He then leaped over to another cutting its right side open with his axe removing its hind leg. The creature fell over yelping. She watched in fascination as he cut through the mutts with a speed and ferocity that she didn't believe any human was capable of. One bloody mutt after another fell as Saint John climbed on top of or dove under them. The fight seemed to last forever but when it was over Saint John stood alone, hands on his knees breathing heavily. He was so covered in blood it was impossible for her to tell how much of it was his and how much was the mutts. He was bloodied and appeared exhausted but still alive. The mutts lied on the field in front of the Cornucopia either dead or whimpering like a dog in pain. She cried out his name just as she felt something grab her from behind.

Saint John could barely stand leaning on his battle axe for support as he tried to catch his breath. He looked down at the hilt that used to be his sword and said, "I wondered why that thing was so light all of a sudden." He looked down at his chest watching blood dripping from four lacerations caused by one of the mutts claws. The chest wounds didn't bother him as much as the ones on his back. He could feel the blood flowing much more freely down his back and into his pants. He was weak and tired but some of his strength was returning. He heard Katniss call out his name and looked up to show her he was alright. He saw Cato grabbing her in a rear choke. He yelled at her weakly but knew it was too late. He then saw Katniss drop to the ground slipping out of his grasp. She kicked up with both her feet hitting her larger attacker in the face. Cato staggered back from a counter attack he never could have seen coming. Seeing Katniss in danger triggered a final surge of combat chemicals to flow into his blood stream. He took off running for her. He leaped on one of the dead creatures, used it as spring board jumped to the top of the Cornucopia. He grabbed Cato in a clothesline with his left arm and tossed him to the ground. Saint John rolled on his right shoulder to his feet.

Cato rolled to his feet as well and faced Saint John. He moved quickly around keeping the Cornucopia in sight. He smiled. "I'm impressed. The Gamemaker's should have given you a 12."

Saint John ignored the pain screaming from every part of his body and focused all his energy on fighting his last opponent. He smiled and replied, "Thanks, you impressed me too. You're not half as dumb as I thought you were. Of course that's not saying much. You can't win Cato, if I don't kill you Katniss will."

He laughed. "I don't think so. You're bleeding all over the place and your girlfriend has one arrow left. I don't plan on giving her a target. First I beat you to death for what you did to Clove then I'll take my time with girlfriend up there."

Saint John bladed his body towards Cato, smirked wickedly and replied, "You going to stand there and talk or do you have the balls to come here and be my bitch."

Cato's smile turned into an ugly sneer. He charged Saint John with murder in his eyes.

Saint John switched to a left handed fighting stance. Just as Cato was on him he pivoted on his right foot, brought his left knee up to strike Cato's stomach. Pain shot though his knee as it impacted Cato's body armor. Cato reached out with his left arm and tossed Saint John to the ground. Saint John braced his back against the ground and focused all his strength in a kick to Cato's side knocking him into the air and depositing him five feet away. Cato landed hard on his back. Saint John put his hands under his shoulders and kicked himself to his feet. He fell forward on his hands in knees dizzy and weak. His body was spent, no longer able to supply the enhanced adrenaline to his muscles. Fresh pain shot through him as the endorphins also failed. He said, "Not now, just a few more minutes," to himself. He still had his enhanced senses and reflexes for the moment. He felt Cato run towards him. He spun around, lashing out with his right leg sweeping Cato's feet out from under him. Saint John spun to his feet and staggered away giving himself some distance from his opponent. Cato closed on him and began an assault of punches and kicks. Saint John was able to block and deflect the strikes but his counter strikes were very weak and ineffective against his armor. Saint John knew he had only one option left to him, get his arms around Cato's head and break his neck. He defended himself waiting for an opening. He thought he had one when Cato tried a straight punch to his face. Saint John pivoted to avoid the strike, looped his left arm under Cato's right and tried to roll him around so he was behind him. He felt a sharp stabbing pain on the inside of his left thigh. His leg gave out and Saint John fell to the ground with Cato on top of him. Cato smiled his left hand with a bloody knife in it tried to bury it in Saint John's throat. Saint John grabbed his left wrist stopping the strike. He then jammed his left arm past Cato's face and behind his left arm. Using his arm as leverage, Saint John used what little strength he had to dislocate Cato's left elbow. A ugly, sucking poping sound told him he was successful. Cato cried out in pain and dropped the knife. Saint John slid his left arm under Cato's chin and pushed his head up. He held it there for a second and said, "Head's we win." Cato's eyes became wide as he realized he was about to die. A tip of an arrow shot through Cato's right eye killing him instantly. A cannon with off and Saint John said, "Tail's you lose." He pushed the dead body off him and lied there exhausted.

Katniss was next to him instantly helping him to his feet. "We won."

Saint John replied, "Ya, us," as he struggled to remain conscious. He looked around and said in a weak voice, "Well what are they waiting for?"

"Maybe we need to be farther from Cato's body," and helped Saint John over to the Cornucopia. They stood there and watched an aircraft appear and pick up Cato's body. The aircraft disappeared and still nothing happened.

Then the voice of the announcer, Claudius Templesmith booms out, "Greetings to the final contestants of the seventy fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."

Saint John laughed thinking, Sometimes it sucks to be right. He closed his eyes, leaned against the Cornucopia and said, "Well, that's it then." He opened his eyes and smiled at a shocked looking Katniss. "Mission accomplished, you're going home."

Katniss came out of her shock. With tears in her eyes she said, "No, it can't end like this. I won't let it."

Saint John felt darkness closing around him. He pushed her away and said, "There's no stopping it. Cato cut my femoral artery. That and what the werewolves did I got maybe five minutes before I bleed out."

Katniss got on her knees and started tearing at his left pants leg. She tried to stop the flow of blood with her hands.

He tried pushing her away again. "Kat I told you there's no stopping it. I'm going to die without a hospital. All they have to do is wait a few more minutes and they'll have their winner. Katniss, just go. I don't want you to watch me die."

She stood up, took his face in her hands and said crying, "You told me they'll have to break us before we quit. They'll have to kill us before we die. I'm not letting you quit and you're not going to die." She pulled out the small pouch of nightlock berries and continued, "Not alone."

Saint John focused on the berries and realized what she was planning. He tried to grab them from her and said, "No, you can't. I won't let you."

She replied, "You can't stop me." She leaned forward, whispered, "Trust me," in his right ear and kissed him.

A bluff, she's trying to bluff them, he thought. There's just one problem with bluffing, sometimes you get called. His confused mind began racing trying to decide if he lets her do this or not. The fact was she was right, he was too weak to stop her. He looked in her eyes and saw sad determination. Even if he refused and died she might take them anyway both out of grief and to prove they can't break her. Now she decides to listen to me, he thought and held out his hand. She gave him some berries and poured the rest into her own. He looks at her and asks weakly, "On three?"

She nods. "On three. One. Two…"

He interrupted her, "Katniss Everdeen, I love you."

She smiles. "I love you too Saint John Jamison. Three."

As they both put the berries in their mouths a frantic Claudius Templesmith shouts, "Stop! Stop! Ladies and Gentlemen. I am pleased to present the victors of the seventy forth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Saint John Jamison! I give you the tributes of District 12!"

Saint John still had the frame of mind to understand the announcement and spat out the berries.

Katniss asked, "You swallow any?"

He shook his head having another wave of dizziness flow through his head. He heard music playing and cheering crowds all around him. He felt Katniss help him away from the Cornucopia so they could get picked up by the aircraft. She helped him grip the ladder. Saint John was barely conscious but could feel his body trying to convulse against the current that held him in place. Once on board the field shut off and he fell in a bloody heap on the deck. He could hear a panicked sounding Katniss screaming his name getting farther and farther away as darkness enveloped his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

The sound of Katniss calling his name getting farther was replaced by a different voice, softer but definitely unnatural getting closer. "Saint John."

It took some time for Saint John to fight his way back to consciousness. He tried to speak but couldn't form words. He slowly opened his eyes and after a few moments of intense blurriness he was able to see he was in a empty, white, sterile, dimly lit room. The only object in the room was the bed he was lying in. There were three tubes coming from the wall attached to his left arm, he guessed they were for supplying medications. He tried to sit up and realized something was restraining him. He was able to move enough to realize he was naked under the soft bed linen.

The voice repeated, "Saint John, are you conscious?"

He looked around trying to find the source of the voice but he was alone in the room. Then he realized the voice was coming from his own head. He closed his eyes and concentrated on speaking quietly, "I'm here, I think."

"Well, you need to stop thinking you're here and arrive. I've disabled the monitoring systems in this room and shut off your sedative feed but I'm not certain how long we have before I'm discovered. The situation is not resolved and your are still in a great deal of jeopardy."

That got his attention. Fear creeping over him triggered his enhancements clearing the remaining fog from his mind. He closed his eyes taking a few seconds to control his fear and heart rate. When he was calmer he said in a clear voice, "Sit-rep."

"Your current location is in a hospital wing two hundred meters below the Training Center. Approximately two days have passed since you were removed from the arena. The life threatening injuries you sustained in the arena have been treated and your body is nearly healed."

"Katniss?"

"Young miss Everdeen is in an identical room across the hall two doors down to the left. She is still sedated receiving treatment for her injuries but her condition is excellent."

He didn't think that sounded too bad and asked, "Ok, define great deal of jeopardy?"

"While you were being treated they discovered your physiological and endocratic enhancements."

Shit, he thought and struggled against his restraints. His bed began to hum loudly as he tried to fight his way free. He said a bit too loud, "Raven, get me out of here."

The voice replied, "Saint John, I believe your escape at this time would create the situation I'm trying to avoid."

He stopped fighting the restraints and lied still. The bed and room became quiet. Saint John took a deep breath, exhaled his frustration with it and said slowly, "Dude, explain, lots of detail as quickly as you can."

"The nano-machines we built and implanted in you migrated into the Capital computer system the moment you were attached to their medical monitors. They released the virus, just as you designed them to, and returned. Obviously otherwise we wouldn't be communicating right now. The virus replicated and I have gained limited access. However, their computer control and data systems are far more sophisticated then we first believed…."

Saint John smiled. He was amazed how the brain can just pull an answer out of seemingly nowhere. He interrupted, "Let me guess its remarkably similar to Protectorate technology from a century ago give or take a decade or two."

The voice paused for a second. "Saint John, how do you know that?"

"I'll explain later. Tell me why staying here is better than leaving now that they know what I am?"

"I have gained access to the medical database and I was going to alter your records when I noticed they had already been changed. Officially, you're an extremely healthy, athletic, 17 year old human male with slightly higher muscle density but within normal human perimeters."

He stared at a shadow on the ceiling thinking about that his friend just told him. "How the hell did that happen?

"But wait, it gets better. Three individuals, a doctor and two technicians, had direct knowledge of your actual condition. I was going to arrange a series of unfortunate events when I discovered they were already dead. Also Seneca Crane, the organizer of this year's Hunger Games has also disappeared. His status is unknown but based on the other information I would presume he's been terminated."

Four dead including a doc that treated me and the guy that put Katniss and I through hell, what is going on, he thought. "Anything else?"

"Yes there is. I examined the altered records in an attempt to discover how it was done. It was a masterful job but I did find a viral trace consistent with those used by Tau-Sai technical analysts."

Saint John's eyes opened wide in shock. It'd been a long time since he'd been that surprised by anything. He asked excitedly, "A tech geek, here?"

"I said consistent, there is the possibility that it is simply a case of parallel developmental practices but taken with the apparent assassinations I have to conclude a high probability that there is another Tau-Sai operative on this world and he or she is trying to protect you. Their exact identity and the motivations for their actions, beyond possible loyalty, are unknown. That is the basis for my current threat assessment; both of you are still in danger. You must proceed very carefully."

Saint John thought for a second and laughed quietly. "No shit. Another operative. You'd think they'd make contact, unless they're waiting for a better opportunity. But I don't think were in that much danger at the moment. If they wanted us dead they could just make it look like we died from our injuries."

"I don't think they can afford for you two to die. At least as long as you two behave. You both are the only thing people are talking about, the star crossed lovers of District 12 ready to sacrifice themselves for each other. If you died now there could be a great deal of discord among the populace. Saint John, I think they've discovered the surveillance systems in your room are no longer functioning. I'll have to return control to them or they'll discover my intrusion. Before I leave I have to know your instructions if your situation degrades beyond your control."

Saint John didn't need to think it over. "Use whatever force is necessary to get Katniss and I out of here. No cost containment measures, no restrictions." Basically, he told his friend to blast its way in, get them out and destroy anything or anyone that got in the way. He'd had enough, after the arena he was ready to go to war. If that's what they want he'd give them one.

The voice replied, "Understood. I'm reactivating your sedative again. Don't take this wrong but I hope I don't have to speak to you until both of you are safely home. Good luck."

Saint John replied, "Thanks, my friend." He was still wondering who else was here when he felt a cold liquid pump into his arm. He closed his eyes as a warm euphoric feeling came over him and he drifted off to sleep again.

Over what he believed to be the next three days he was woken up long enough to eat a meager meal, brought in by the male Avox that served him in his apartment before the Game. During those lucid periods, while he ate slowly, he thought about who the other operative could be. Cinna looked physically fit enough to be a possibility but the kindness in his eyes told Saint John that he'd ever had to kill at another's instructions. You can always tell a killer by their eyes; that look never completely leaves you. He ruled out Portia for the same reason and Effie, well, no one was that good of an actor. Haymitch was the only one that had the look of a killer. But even after 25 years of drinking himself into a stupor Saint John would never had been able to beat him so quickly on the train. The training is automatic and never completely leaves you. No, the other operative had to be someone he hadn't met yet.

Then on the fourth day he woke up and found his restraints were gone and the tubes no longer attached to his arm. He sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. Whatever they used as a sedative was very high quality. It cleared his system quickly without leaving any fatigue or druggy side effects. He stood up slowly expecting some dizziness but felt as fit as he ever did. He examined his body and found the huge laceration Cato's sword made across his stomach was completely gone; not even a scar. He then noticed the scar around his right arm from where he had a replacement attached when he lost his lower half in his first firefight was also gone leaving perfectly smooth skin behind. The scars from the plasma burn on his left side were also gone. He was relieved to find his tattoo was still on his shoulder. He suffered greatly, endured the intense, dangerous training, to earn the right to wear the symbol of the Tau-Sai. At the foot of his bed he found folded neatly the same outfit he wore in the arena. He smirked and got dressed quickly. The far wall opened and he left the room. He turned left and walked down the hall wondering about Katniss but the walls of the corridor were completely smooth making it impossible to tell where the doors were. It was for the best. He couldn't just stop at her door and knock on it without making those watching him wonder how he knew she was there. He continued down the long, empty hallway wondering if he went the wrong way. He was considering turning around when he heard a familiar, high pitched, prissy woman's voice at the end of the hall. He smiled and walked faster towards the voice. As he got closer other familiar voices joined that one. In a big chamber at the end of the hall he found the source of the voices. He looked at the crowd smiling. "Bet none of you expected to see me again?"

The group looked over at him. He immediately noticed Katniss and Cinna weren't there but Effie, Haymitch and Portia were. Effie and Portia had tears in their eyes smiling. He walked over, gently took Effie's hand, kissed it gently and said, "A pleasure to see you again Ms. Trinket."

Effie abandoned polite restraint. She threw her arms around him hugging him tightly. She kept repeating how proud she was and that she was right about them being pearls.

When she released him it was Portia's turn. She came over to him openly crying and too full of emotion to speak. He held whispering it was over, he was fine and thanking her for everything she did. As they broke up he felt her hand him something. The letter he gave to her before he entered the tube to the arena. Her voice was a interesting combination of joy and sadness when she said, "I'm glad I didn't have to deliver this." He nodded, moved towards her and gently kissed her cheek.

He turned to face a smirking Haymitch standing with his arms crossed. He asked, "So, are you going to kill me?"

He laughed. "A lot of that was me playing for the cameras. Thought the audience would like it."

Haymitch snorted laughter. "I'm sure they did. Made me laugh."

Saint John placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully and said, "You know, before we started training, before the cameras I said you're either a genius or an idiot. The former, I'd shake your hand. The latter, well…"

Haymitch was still smirking obviously unconcerned. "So?"

Saint John smiled widely and held out his right hand. Haymitch grabbed his hand in a firmly. Saint John pulled him forward into a hug. He said quietly, "I'd never kill a brother in blood."

Haymitch looked at him strangely not understanding what that meant but nodded.

Saint John didn't expect him to understand the meaning of the term 'brother in blood' but the fact was he did see his mentor as a brother. They'd both survived something very few had. But more importantly, he was there when they needed him. Saint John felt guilty for completely misjudging him. Saint John wasn't sure but he thought he almost saw a tear in the old man's eye.

Haymitch let go of his hand and gently pushed Saint John towards his stylist. "Go with Portia, she needs to get you ready for tonight."

He stopped and asked concerned, "Wait, where's Kat?"

Haymitch smiled, really smiled for maybe the first time since they met and replied, "She's fine. Cinna took her to get ready an hour ago. They want your reunion to be live on stage. Now go. Portia and her team have their work cut out for them making you presentable."

Saint John shook his head. "Try not to drink too much Abernathy, don't want you falling off the stage." He took Portia's arm and started walking away.

Haymitch yelled, "What did I tell you about my drinking?"

Portia leads him down the empty hall and to an elevator to the Training Center lobby. They then take another elevator to the 12th floor apartment he and Katniss shared before the game began. His three person prep team greet them and quietly walk lead them to the dining room where a wonder smelling meal awaits him. Saint John didn't know he was so hungry until he smelled the food. He practically inhaled the roast beef, rolls and even peas which he normally didn't like. He looked at the bottles of intoxicants at the end of the sitting room longingly. He thought about asking for a drink but decided against it. The food wasn't sitting that well in his stomach and adding whiskey to it, especially after not having any for a while, would most likely make him sick. When he asked for a cup of coffee his prep team looked petrified. Saint John looked at Portia questioningly wondering why everyone seemed afraid of him.

She glared at the male member of the team for several seconds. Then looked at Saint John with a warm friendly smile. She told him that coffee wasn't a good idea, it could upset his stomach. He had to admit she was probably right. Between his eating too fast and overactive nerves coffee could make him puke all over the stage. She suggested after the ceremony during the party maybe if he didn't feel sick. Saint John nodded and they all led him to his old room.

Portia went to make some finishing touches to what he was going to wear leaving him alone with the prep team. As he undressed he noticed the team standing in a small group around there equipment looking very nervous. He focused his hearing on them and could tell by their elevated breathing and heart rates they were nearly panicking. He shook his head, and wearing only his pants asked, "Alright, what's going on?"

The younger woman, the one that cut his hair asked with fear in her voice, "Www what do you mean, sir?"

Sir, did she just call me sir, he thought. Saint John shook his head and smiled. "You three look like you're about to pee your pants. Are you afraid of me?" They didn't say anything but he could tell by their reaction that they were afraid, deathly afraid. He felt terrible for scaring the hell out of this bunch. They weren't a threat to him, killing them was frankly beneath him. He might be many things, most of them not good, but he wasn't a bully. Harming the weak without a reason or orders was something bullies did to make themselves feel better. He smiled warmly, held his hands up at his wait palms up and said, "Look, guys a few days ago you were standing around looking at me naked trying to decide if you should shave my nethers. You know I don't even know your names."

The younger, thin woman with purple hair said her name was Solice. The man and apparent leader of the team was Dessin and the older woman was called Liberty.

He nodded still smiling. He looked at each one calling them by name and said, "You are part of the reason Katniss and I survived. You three helped the sponsors notice me. Those sponsors are part of the reason we won. I can't hurt you, I owe you." They started looking a bit more relaxed but still uncertain. Saint John held his arms out and said, "Come on guys, you're my team. Here group hug."

The prep team looked at each other uncertain what to do. Solice hesitantly walked over and embraced him. After a few seconds the other two joined them. The four hugged for a nearly a minute when Saint John asked, "Better?" All three of them nodded smiling, fear apparently gone. Saint John released them and said, "Good, let's get to work making me look presentable. I'm kind of curious what Katniss is going to look like this time."

Liberty replied, "Oh, you're going to love her dress…."

Dessin pushed her arm gently. "Cinna wanted it to be a secret."

She pushed him back. "I didn't tell him anything. I'm sure he already knows she's going to wear a dress."

Saint John laughed. "Kat in a dress, can't wait." He dropped his pants and put himself in their hands.

The team got to work setting his shower for him, shaving the growth off his face and trimming his once again wild looking hair. Solice made a comment about trimming his body hair suggesting that the love of his life might like it. Saint John felt himself blush much to the amusement of his team. He stared at the young man looking back at him from the mirror. A young man he hadn't seen in almost 30 years. He's lost weight too. He didn't have much body fat before the arena but now he didn't think he had any. It also looked like he lost a few kilos of muscle that he'd have to replace. His enhancements only improved what was there. Lost muscle meant lost strength. He began thinking about how he was going to replace the muscle when he got home. The prep team rattled on about the game and what they were doing while kids fighting and dying for their entertainment. For some reason their babbling didn't bother him. In fact it was comforting listening to people talk about their lives no matter how superficial it might seem. Only someone who had killed, who had ended what might seem like superficial lives knows that no life is superficial. His hair done, nails trimmed and clear coated Portia arrives carrying what seemed like very simple clothes. The first thing she did was place his Norse charm around his neck and whispered, "For luck."

She helped him dress in a thin yellow shirt, dark pants and boots. She then did some final touches to his hair, a light gold highlight to accent his natural hair color and shirt. She touched up his face with a bit of gold dust and they were done. She led him down to a special area of the training room that was sectioned off just for the ceremony. He asked Portia how the introductions worked. She explained that the prep teams get introduced, followed by her and Cinna, then Haymitch and finally him and Katniss. She pointed to a platform on the floor and said he was going to rise to the stage when they were ready for him. Ceaser Flickerman would be on the stage making the introductions. Ceaser would greet him and Katniss, they'd sit and watch the highlights and then the president awards the crowns.

He looked questioningly. "No interview?"

She straightened his shirt so it hung centered over his shoulders and replied, "Nope, you just have to sit there tonight. The interviews will be tomorrow."

Cinna came around a corner, congratulated Saint John, shook his hand and told Portia it was time. They both left him alone in the dark below stage area waiting for this whole thing to begin. Saint John listened to a murmur of the crowd getting anxious for this thing to begin. For all its comforts the Capital was enemy territory and the faster he got and Katniss got out of there the better. He heard a sound from behind him. He turned and saw a well dressed Haymitch looking at him. He asked, "What's up?"

His mentor studied him questioningly not understanding the meaning of the question. He must have guessed its meaning because he replied, "Just checking on one of my victors. How are you feeling?"

"A little nervous, want to get this over with so Katniss and I can get on with our lives."

Haymitch stared at him intently like he was trying to look into him and see what he was thinking. After a few seconds he said, "Well, a couple more days and you two can live happily ever after." He started to leave and turned back. "I didn't say this before but, you did good kid. This is yours and Katniss' night , enjoy it."

Saint John watched Haymitch leave thinking about the happily ever after part. Haymitch almost sounded sad when he said it. Then the music sounded and the introductions began. He listened to the introductions and after Haymitch took his place the platform he was standing on began to rise. He was blinded by the bright stage lights for a few seconds. When his eyes adjusted he saw a perfect looking Katniss standing across from him. She was wearing a dress the same color as his shirt and flat sandals. Her hair was down held loosely by a hair band. Saint John found a few things strange by her look. First the dress looked more like something a young girl would wear. Second, her breasts and hips appeared bigger than they were the last time he saw her. He looked into her wonderful grey eyes and nothing mattered except her. She stared into his, smiled and ran into his arms. He caught her barely moving and held her tightly. He held her not wanting the moment to end. Both of them refused to let go even when Ceaser tried to get them to continue with the show. Saint John gently pushed the host away holding is right arm out at him. He whispered in her ear, "Remember Kitten , it was us or them. We didn't have a choice." He could feel her nod in agreement and clung to him almost desperately.

A soft push interrupted their moment. Saint John looked at Haymitch with a playful frown on his face. He took Katniss' arm and directed her to the large chair next to Ceaser's . The chair was barely big enough for two making Katniss nearly have to sit on his lap. Saint John wasn't going to complain. Even being watched by a crowd the closer he was to her the better. When Katniss kicked off her shoes and curled up next him, he smiled and placed his arm around her letting her rest her head on his left shoulder. Ceaser tells a few jokes and then their watching themselves on a big display.

Starting with them volunteering at the Reaping the highlights progressed through the different parts of the preliminary events. All of which Saint John had seen several times before. Still, he liked watching Katniss during the parade and the interview. He had to hold back laughter when he saw the look on her face after he confessed his love for her. He hadn't seen that before and her reaction seemed like even more proof that she loved him. He looked over at her, smiled and kissed her forehead. She looked up at him catching his eyes for a few seconds. She smiled weakly but seemed troubled by something. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but decided this wasn't the time or place. Later, when they were alone he'd get it out of her.

Then they were in the arena. Katniss gripped his arm tightly as she watched the boy from four charge him with the axe, even though she had to know what was going to happen. He closed his eyes, wishing the girl next to him wouldn't see what he did. Based on her movements next to him he knew she had seen him slaughter two kids for their supplies and left a third for dead. He found out Cato finished the injured boy off with a sword to his chest. Most of the beginning was of tributes dying or Saint John with a few cuts of Katniss trying to survive. He guessed he was featured more in the beginning because of his attempts at finding ways to attack the Careers. He placed himself in the audiences' shoes. They had to find it entertaining trying to figure out what he was going to do next. He could feel Katniss looking up at him when she saw him harassing the Careers when she was up the tree. He almost felt Cato's sword cutting his stomach open again. He watched himself in fascination stagger around after he was stung somehow still able to kill two wolves the boy from ten had trained and finally kill him with an axe to the face. He could almost taste the raw liver in his mouth. The editors didn't cut any of it out.

He smiled when he saw Katniss blow up the supplies and almost wanted to cry when he saw Rue die. They showed Katniss singing to her but not the wreath of flowers. He found it interesting they didn't show his encounter with Rue. Perhaps they thought such kindness was beneath a victor with his fighting skill. He smiled slightly when Katniss called out his name after the fake rule announcement. After that it was almost all her. Katniss searching for him, helping him to the cave and saving his life. Him running desperately through the woods to the feast and killing Clove to save her. However, his sparring Thresh didn't make the cut either. Katniss and him cuddling in the cave, him singing to her and even the part of the game they played where Katniss said there never was anyone but him. Foxface's, death which then led to the bloody finale. He felt pain in his back when he saw one of the werewolves swipe its clawed paw at Saint John's back shredding his skin. Katniss gripped his arm tighter, feeling is pain as well. His fight with Cato that ended with Katniss' arrow through his head. Then the announcement changing the rules again and Katniss pulling out the berries. Saint John was pretty out of it but seeing it from this prospective scared him. Those in power don't like being defied and that was exactly what she did. Saint John started looking around the room for escape routes. Possible ways he could get her out in case soldiers or Peace Keepers suddenly showed up to arrest them. The audiences hushing each other so they don't miss a thing made him relax slightly. He agreed with his friend, they were more valuable alive right now. When he saw what happened after he passed out on the aircraft he understood why they were. Her panicked screaming and banging on the glass wall trying to get to him could do nothing but convince anyone that she loved him. Saint John nodded slightly. He believed they were safe as long as the population loved them as much as they loved each other. It wouldn't last forever but long enough for them to get home. After that he wasn't sure but the beginning of a plan was forming. The anthem playing brought him out of his thoughts. He and Katniss stood up as the President approached with a young girl carrying a golden crown on a red velvet pillow. His eyes narrowed at the single crown wondering who was going to get it until the President picked it up and it came apart in two pieces. Saint John bowed slightly as his half was placed on his head. Saint John only noticed two things about the middle aged leader of this place; his eyes and the smell. The emotionless eyes were those of a man that had ordered the deaths of several. He suspected they were the same eyes he would see if he'd ever met Hitler, Stalin or Pol-Pot. Of everything that had happened his eyes were one thing that convinced him he played this right. If he'd gone on a one man war against the Capital this man wouldn't have a problem killing every man, woman and child in the country to stay in power. The man also reeked of a strange combination of roses with the faint scent of blood. He watched intently as Katniss was presented her half of the crown. The President had the same look on his face, the same emotionless eyes and thin smile. Once the presentation was over and the President stepped aside Saint John took Katniss' right hand in his left and raised them above their heads to a wildly cheering crowd. The people of the Capital were their allies and he needed to keep them their allies for as long as he could. Ceaser ended the show reminding everyone of the interview tomorrow afternoon. Then it was off to the president's mansion for the Victory Banquet. As soon as they arrived it was obvious the party wasn't for the victors but for everyone else, mostly the sponsors. Saint John drew on his natural charm and protocol training, put on a very friendly smile and made lots of pleasant meaningless conversation with a bunch of rich, powerful and very drunken idiots. They acted like they were the ones that won the game which was annoying to him but he buried it and got though the night. He did get a couple of cups of coffee in him and made sure Katniss was able to snack a bit. He also tried to pick out the possible operative in the crowd but saw no one that appeared to fit that bill. He wasn't too surprised. Whoever it was, if they existed, could have been hiding here for decades. They'd be blended into the populace and wouldn't risk breaking their cover at a public event.

The sun was coming up as Haymitch whisked them back to their apartment and personally escorts them to their rooms telling them to get some sleep before the interview at two. He looked at the closed door wondering why Haymitch was trying to keep them apart. He nodded. It was conformation of what he believed in the beginning; they were being watched. He took off his clothes, showered the highlight and clear makeup off and lied on his bed naked. He stared at the ceiling fighting the urge to go see Katniss. He knew what would happen if he did. First he'd tell her everything about him; the truth. After that, depending on if she ran screaming from the room or not, and based on how they felt about each other well, he didn't want his first time with her to be watched by a bunch of Peace Keepers. Although he was certain Raven could disable the surveillance systems that would attract attention. They'd have plenty of time alone when they got home. Besides, without some visual aids to help him she'd probably think he was crazy. So he lied there thinking about everything he learned about Penem, its people and this place. He believed he discovered the answer back in the hospital when Raven told him about the computer system. That and force fields, invisibility systems, anti-gravity propulsion and their medical technology were all things he was quite familiar with. There was only one conclusion he could draw. However, when investigating you don't just try to prove your theory, you also try to disprove it. Only when you can draw no other logical answer do you accept your theory as fact. He'd arrived at that final conclusion just as Effie knocks on his door and announces its another, "Big, big, day."

Saint John barely started his breakfast when the prep team is on him. He's allowed to sip coffee while they work. After a couple of hours touching up his shave, trimming his hair and making sure he's scrubbed down adequately Portia comes in and sends them on their way. She again helps him dress only this time in a striking red and white suit. Saint John felt a little nervous about this interview. He closed his eyes and tried to remember everything he said during the first interview and the games. The one problem with weaving a tapestry of lies is you have to remember them perfectly or come up with plausible reasons why your story changed. Portia noticed his anxiety and tried to reassure him. He smiled back at her, hid his feelings but was still worried. She finished her work and had him stand in front of the mirror. He looked over at her and back at the mirror thinking he looked too good.

Portia readjusted his coat again and said, "You did better with Ceaser during the first interview than Katniss. So Cinna and I thought it would be best if she complimented you this time."

He smiled weakly. "Yeah, not so sure that's a good idea right now."

She smiled warmly, leaned towards him and kissed his cheek. "Oh, stop worrying. You'll be fine. Just be the charming, funny young man I know you to be." She brushed a stray hair from his face. When it fell back down she sat him down in a chair and restyled his hair. As he stood up she said, "Oh and remember…"

Saint John interrupted, "Lay off the vulgarity."

She smiled warmly, placed her arms on his shoulders and said, "In an hour this will be over. Then it's just a train ride home." She hugged him tightly. "You two are going to have a wonderful life together."

He clung to her. Portia had become a friend, even a confidant. Someday, when it was safe for her he'd make a point to tell her about himself. He whispered, "You know, I think so too."

She released her embrace, spun him to the door and said, "Get going, victor." Saint John hesitated for a second until she gently slapped him on the butt to get him moving.

He looked back at her in shock. Then smiled and went to finish the game he volunteered to play.

She held his shoulders directing him to the sitting room. The room had been cleared for the interview making room for the cameras and their operators. A pair of chairs were set in front of the cameras with the city skyline showing through the balcony window as the back ground. Ceaser Flickerman stood off to the side wearing the same lit up purple suit he usually wore. Katniss was next to him talking until she saw Saint John walk in.

She smiled and came over to him but stopping short of hugging him. She looked him up, down and them in his eyes. "Wow, you look real good."

He smiled back. Looked over at a smiling Portia and replied, "Yeah, well I've discovered you should never underestimate the power of a good stylist."

She laughed, looked at Cinna and said, "Me too." She hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear, "I've hardly had a chance to talk to you. Haymitch seemed determined to keep us apart."

He looked over at a grim faced Haymitch and thought, Not apart, he's trying to keep us safe. He whispered back, "Yeah, he's become very…mentory as of late." He gently took her face in his hands and said quietly, "We'll be on our way home soon. We'll have all and forever to talk." He turned her head slightly. "And anything else we want to do," and kissed her. As he kissed her he could hear the soft sigh of many in the room at the show of affection. A gruff clearing of someone's throat broke up the moment. Saint John glared at the source. Haymitch stood there scowling with his arms crossed in apparent displeasure. He looked at everyone else, smiled and said, "Sorry."

Ceaser beamed a smile showing his surgically prefect teeth. "Don't be. If I had someone as lovely as Katniss I'd kiss her as often as I could." He looked over at one of the crew. He nodded back. Ceaser looked back over at them, waved towards the chairs and said, "We're ready."

Saint John let his left hand slide down to Katniss' waist and gently directed her to the love seat set up for them. They sat formally in the chair until Ceaser suggested that Katniss curl up next to Saint John like she did the night before. He puts his arms around her, the director counts down and they are broadcasting live to the entire country.

Ceaser's gentle banter made Saint John relax considerably. They joked about him losing weight in the arena and how handsome he looked in his suit. Saint John countered with how he'd never look as good as Ceaser. Ceaser laughed and handed him the number of his tailor which Saint John took and promised to give it to Haymich after the interview. Ceaser asks a few simple questions like how it felt to be a victor and what they planned on doing when they get home. Saint John and Katniss kept their answers somewhat vague saying the realization hasn't quite hit them but whatever they do it will be together. But eventually he has to ask tough questions.

Ceaser asked about their relationship specifically when they fell in love. Saint John's answer was obvious but not so easy for Katniss. She replied, with a little help from Ceaser, that it was during the rule change. When she believed she could have him.

Ceaser took out a handkerchief acting like he was overcome with emotion. Saint John looked down at her and asked with a mischievous smile, "So, now that I'm yours what are you going to do with me?"

She closed her eyes, a shy smile came over her face and her cheeks blushed a bit. "Find someplace to stick you where you never have to fight again."

Yeah, good luck with that Kitten, he thought. He smiled and gave her a quick, gentle kiss.

Ceaser and Saint John talk about the game in the cave, discussing his dead friends leaving Katniss out of the conversation for a while. The conversation seemed harmless enough until Ceaser stopped smiling and asked with a serious face, "So, Saint John, you're fighting skills are beyond anything I think any of us have ever seen in the arena; tell us where did you learn them?"

He tried to play the amnesia card stating he didn't remember anything before running from the fire five years ago and most of it he just knew.

Ceaser placed his hand on Saint John's arm and replied, "Oh, there has to be more to the story than that; tell us."

Saint John laughed. "Well yeah, I got beat up a lot. Believe me Ceaser I've lost more fights than I won." He looked over at Katniss' worried look. He smiled and hugged her tighter and said, "I just win all the important ones." He looked back at Ceaser. "I learned from experience and from my friends. I did what I usually do from as far back as I can remember; whatever I had to. And I'd have to say the odds were quite a bit in my favor."

Ceaser smiled back apparently satisfied with the answer replying, "I'd say so as well." He asked, "And the fire bomb you used at the Cornucopia, where did you lean to build one of those?"

He frowned at the host and replied, "I saw it on a replay of one of the previous games."

Ceaser nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, yes, one of the earlier ones, tenth or eleventh I believe. You certainly were more successful than she was."

Saint John sighed internally. He never saw anyone use a Molotov on any of the replays but figured someone had to have used one at some point.

Ceaser moved on to the final fight against the werewolves and Cato. Saint John smiled offering his feelings and what he was thinking at the time. Katniss only spoke when Ceaser asked her direct questions and then just enough to satisfy him.

Then came the moment both of them had been dreading. Ceaser Flickermen looked straight at Katniss. "Saint John's nearly unconscious, he could have died at any minute and you pull out the berries, tell us what was going on in your mind?"

Whether Katniss response was planned or nerves Saint John didn't know but her pause and quiet, stammered reply of, "I don't know, I just…couldn't bear the thought of…being without him," was perfect.

Ceaser asks, "Saint John, anything to add?"

He smiled, looked down at the young woman still curled up next to him and replied, "No, I think she just spoke for both of us."

And it's over. Ceaser signs off and everyone's laughing, crying and hugging. Saint John watched Katniss walk over to Haymitch, give him an excited hug and make her way back to her room. He was still shaking Ceaser's hand wondering if there was something he should know about those two. There was nothing in his room that he wanted and followed the stylists down to the car to the train station. He shook Cinn's hand and gave Portia one last hug thanking both of them. He'd see both of them in a few months when they took the show on the road for the victory tour.

The first thing Saint John did when he got on the train was head over to the booze table in the lounge car. He poured himself a whiskey with ice. He smiled at the familiar burning sensation in his mouth and throat. He walked over to a large soft couch near a picture window and sat down. Haymitch comes in looks over and shakes his head smirking. Effie and Katniss follow him in and frown at Saint John. He stood up smiling, raised his glass and said, "Hi Kitten." When her frown turns into a scowl he puts an exaggerated sad look on his face and said, "Sorry, Katniss."

Her frown turns into a smirk and then a sly smile. She walks over, sits down across from him and asked, "Why do you drink that stuff?"

"I like the taste." Takes another sip. "And the buzz."

She gives him that cute puzzled look, reaches out and takes the glass from his hand. She brought it slowly to her nose. She scowled at the odor but still took a sip. She shook her head violently, coughed and asked, "How can you and Haymitch stand this stuff?"

He suppressed his laughter and took the glass back. "It's an acquired taste." He finished that drink and said, "Although, If I were you I wouldn't acquire it, the stuffs kind of additive and nearly impossible to get in 12. Except for that rot gut crap Haymitch drinks."

She replied, "Then you shouldn't drink it either." Katniss took the glass, placed it on the tray and brought back a cup of hot tea for him. "Here get used to drinking this. We have plenty of tea back home."

Haymitch let out a belly laugh that nearly made every one jump out of their skins. Effie smiled, clapping her hands quietly. "Bravo, Katniss. We wouldn't want him to follow in your mentor's footsteps."

Saint John laughed quietly feeling his face turn red. He stared into Katniss' eyes getting lost in them for what seemed like forever and yet nowhere near long enough. He reached out, gently touched her face and said, "I'll quit drinking for you. From this moment on everything I do is for you and those we love hun."

Her eyes became very sad. Katniss leaned back in the chair and looked away. Saint John stared at her looking out the window refusing to return his gaze. Finally he decided to give her space and leave her to her thoughts. He sipped his tea until dinner was ready.

Dinner came and went and Katniss still refused to look at him. They sat in separate chairs watching the interview and he still didn't understand what he did to upset her. What few glances he got seemed sad and confused. About half way through the replay Katniss excused herself and went to her room. When she returned she was wearing the same blue dress she wore during the Reaping. It reminded him that he was still wearing his interview suit. Once the replay was over changed back into his old clothes as well. He glanced at himself in the mirror wearing the ratty, stained dark pants, shirt and black leather boots and smiled. Then he realized what going home meant and scowled angry with himself. Angry for betraying his closest friend. He found love, maybe for the last time in his life, but the price would be Gale's friendship. Saint John sees the letter lying on the floor, picks it up and leaves his room just as the train stops for fuel. When Katniss suggested they go for a walk Saint John felt almost excited. They walked holding hands towards the back of the train. He saw some wild onions growing next to the tracks and thought they'd make both a pretty and funny gift to her. He picked one and handed it to her.

Katniss smirked and asked, "You know this is an onion right?"

He gave her a horrified look and replied, "No, it's a flower. If I left it in the ground it would be an onion."

She looks back down at the pink and white blossom thanks him in a quiet voice and keeps walking. When they get to the end of the train Saint John gently stops her. "What's wrong Kat?"

She replied quietly, "Nothing," still refusing to look at him.

He lets go of her hand and gently touches her face until she looks up at him with sad, confused eyes. "Kitten, I've known you too long to not tell when something's bothering you. And you've known me long enough to know that I'll get it out of you eventually. So you might as well tell me now."

He's so focused on Katniss he barely had time to register Haymitch's arrival behind him.

Haymitch put his hands on their shoulders and said in a hushed tone, "Great job you two. Just keep it up in the district until the cameras are gone. We should be ok."

Saint John watched him walk away scowling. "What the hell did that mean?" He glanced down at a miserable looking Katniss and knew something else was going on. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Katniss, is there something I should know about?"

She replied in a weak childlike voice, "It's the Capital. They didn't like our stunt with the berries. Too rebellious."

He replied slowing and quietly looking around, "Yeah, I got that impression when I saw the highlights."

She smiled. "Haymitch said you were smart enough to figure it out."

"I'm smart enough; what about you?"

"He's been coaching me the last few days so I don't make it worse."

He wondered what he needed to coach her in. What she said in the cave, her actions both in and out of the arena, it was obvious she did what she did out of love. Then he thought, Or was it. The thought of Haymitch and Katniss having private 'coaching' sessions enraged him. The thought was dismissed the moment it came to mind as utterly ridicules but the pain remained. He felt his abilities trigger and worked to calm himself. He breathed deeply and said, "So, it was all an act."

Katniss looked up and said sadly, "Saint John…"

He held his hand out to her stopping her. "No, it's ok. You did what you had to to survive." He felt sick to his stomach and his body began shaking all over. The pain was nearly as unbearable as if he was looking down at her dead body. So he did what he usually does when overcome by emotion; he laughed. He said in a mean sarcastic voice, "Damn, you know I'm pretty good at reading people so it's been a long time since I've been played so well. I told you back in the cave that you were the universes worst liar. I was wrong, you're the universes most accomplished liar and actress." He clapped his hands mockingly. "Bravo, Katniss. Bravo."

She looked devastated and said with tears in her eyes, "That's not fair…."

He interrupted, "No, it's not. It's not fair any of this happened but then there's no such thing as a fair fight. But friends deserve the truth."

She yelled nearly sobbing, "Saint John stop, please."

He stopped talking and looked into her eyes not certain what he was seeing anymore. "Katniss, just answer me one question truthfully; do you love me?"

She stood there staring at the ground for several seconds. "I don't know. The closer we get to home the more confused I feel about you and…"

He finished what she was going to say quietly, "Gale." She didn't answer, just kept staring at the ground. Saint John took Poria's letter out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Here." She looked up at him. "I wrote it before I went into the arena and asked Portia to give it to you when it was over, when I was dead. I was going to burn it but I guess you should read it, there's something in it you should know." He started walking back towards the train. Katniss called out to him and he replied, "I don't want to talk to you right now. I don't want to say something I can't take back." He went back on the train and straight to his room.

He knew he was being childish. Deception was a part of warfare and he'd done more than his fair share of lying to everyone including her. He even kept his true feelings from her as long as he could but he never lied to her about them. That was a line he would never cross with a friend. Then he remembered what he told Gale and realized he did cross that line with him. He lied on the bed hating himself as darkness came over the train. When it sounded like everyone had gone to their rooms for the night he went to the dining car. He poured himself and drink and stared at the glass without drinking it. Eventually he set the glass down, looked at one of the ever attentive servants and said, "Coffee please, you know how I like it and keep it coming." He sat drinking coffee and watching the darkness streak by. Haymitch came out looking for more booze and asked him if he couldn't sleep. Saint John refused to answer.

Haymitch bent forward and whispered gruffly in his ear, "This isn't over yet, boy. I don't care how you feel. We need to keep this up or…."

Before he even realized what he was doing Saint John found his right hand around Haymitch's throat. Haymitch grabbed his arm trying to break his grasp but he was too strong. In the dim light he could see the older man's face begin to turn purple as his carotid arties were pinched off. He whispered quietly, just loud enough for Haymitch to hear, "I'll do what I have to in front of the cameras. And when this thing goes completely south I'll be there fighting to protect her, you and everyone else we care about. But until then leave me the hell alone." He let go and went back to watching the world go by.

The next morning Saint John ate breakfast alone in that very chair. It wasn't until they pulled into the District 12 train station that he got up and stood next to Katniss at the door. He looked at her expressionless and said, "Katniss, I wasn't fair to you. It's not fair to hold you to anything you said in the arena. We both did what we needed to and kept each other alive. You were willing to die to save me. Only a true real friend would do that. No matter what happens, no matter what you decide, know that if you ever need me you just have to look to your right, that's where I'll be."

She replied with a sad smile on her face, "I don't want to lose you."

As what, a friend or something more, he thought. He closed his eyes, buried his feelings and focused on what had to be done. He held out his left hand. "For our adoring fans."

Katniss took his hand and they walked out onto the platform. They put on fake smiles and raised their clasped hands in triumph to the cheering District that at least for the moment loved them.


End file.
